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Medal record
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Jafar Salmassi (Persian: محمدجعفر سلماسی, 22 September 1918 – 31 January 2000) was an Iranian weightlifter who won Iran's first Olympic medal at 1948 Summer Olympics.
Early life
Jafar Salmassi was born in Kadhimiya, Iraq but was originally from Salmas in northwestern Iran. Before he began his career as a weightlifter, he was a teacher at an Iranian school in Baghdad. An accomplished athlete, he taught himself gymnastics moves by reading illustrated books.
He discovered weightlifting in his late 20s during a trip to Tehran and later was asked by the Iranian government to compete in a national weightlifting tournament. He won, and in 1948 went to London to compete for Iran's first Olympic team.
International weightlifting career
On 7 July 1948, he won the bronze medal in the 56 – 60 kg featherweight event.
He was the Iranian champion in the featherweight weight class for five years, 1944 through 1948.
Salmassi returned to Baghdad after the Olympics. Later, won the gold medal at the 1951 Asian Games in New Delhi.
Later life
Later, Salmassi trained Iraqi weightlifters and continued teaching Iranian students there. When Saddam Hussein took power, Salmassi left Iraq and moved to Iran with his family.
He died in Tehran in January 2000.
References
- Joneidi, Khashayar (28 July 2012). "Salmassi: The teacher who won Iran's first Olympic medal". BBC News. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
- "Official Olympic record". International Olympic Committee.
| Olympic Games | ||
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| Preceded byMahmoud Namjoo | Flagbearer for  Iran Rome 1960 |
Succeeded byNosratollah Shahmir [fa] |
| Asian Games Champions in Weightlifting – Men's Featherweight | |
|---|---|
| 1951–1990: 60 kg • 1994: 64 kg • 1998–2018: 62 kg • 2022: 67 kg | |
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Gold medalists
Silver medalists
Bronze medalists- 1918 births
- 2000 deaths
- Iranian male weightlifters
- Iranian strength athletes
- Weightlifters at the 1948 Summer Olympics
- Olympic weightlifters for Iran
- Olympic bronze medalists for Iran
- Asian Games gold medalists for Iran
- Olympic medalists in weightlifting
- Asian Games medalists in weightlifting
- Weightlifters at the 1951 Asian Games
- Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 1951 Asian Games
- 20th-century Iranian sportsmen
- People from Salmas
- Sportspeople from West Azerbaijan province