Zahra Nemati

Zahra Nemati (Persian: زهرا نعمتی‎, born 30 April 1985) is an Iranian Paralympic and Olympic archer. She originally competed in taekwondo before she was paralyzed in a car accident. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics she won two medals, an individual gold and team bronze. She has qualified to compete at both the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2016 Summer Paralympics.[1]

Zahra Nemati

Zahra Nemati in 43rd N.O.I.C General Assembly
Personal information
Born	April 30, 1985 Kerman, Kerman Province, Iran
Spouse(s)	Roham Shahabi Pour (m. 2012)
Sport
Country	Iran
Sport	Archery
Medal record Representing  Iran Paralympic Games 2012 London Women's individual recurve W1/W2 2016 Rio de Janeiro Women's individual recurve W1/W2 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team recurve open 2012 London Women's team recurve World Para-archery Championships 2013 Bangkok Women's recurve W2 2013 Bangkok Women's team recurve Asian Para Games 2010 Guangzhou Women's individual recurve W1/W2 2014 Incheon Women's individual recurve 2018 Jakarta Women's individual recurve 2018 Jakarta Mixed Team Recurve Open W2/ST

Personal life

Nemati was born in Kerman, Iran. In 2003, she was injured in a car accident, leaving her with spinal injuries and paralysis of both legs.[2][3][4][5][6]

Sports career

Prior to her injuries, Nemati had been a black belt in taekwondo. She took up archery in 2006 and within six months finished third in the National Championships, competing against able bodied athletes.[7] In para-archery events she competes in the W2 classification.[2]

Nemati was selected to compete for Iran at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, held in London, United Kingdom, where she won two medals, becoming the first Iranian woman to win a gold medal at either the Olympic or Paralympic Games.[8] In the women's recurve W1/W2 event she placed first in the ranking round with a score of 613 and received a bye to the round of 16 where she beat Mariangela Perna of Italy 6–0. In the quarterfinals she defeated Turkey's Gizem Girismen again by a score of 6–0 and advanced to the gold medal match by winning her semifinal against Italy's Veronica Floreno 6–0. Nemati faced Elisabetta Mijno of Italy in the final and secured the gold medal with a 7–3 win.[9] She dedicated her gold medal to "all of the people who prayed for me to achieve this success." [10]

In the women's team recurve, Nemati was part of the Iranian team alongside Razieh Shir Mohammadi and Zahra Javanmard. They placed second in the ranking round with 1646 points and defeated the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals the Iranian team lost to South Korea by a score of 192–186 but went on to defeat Italy 188–184 in the bronze medal match as Nemati claimed her second medal of the Games.[11]

At the 2013 World Para-archery Championships held in Bangkok, Thailand, she won the gold medal in the women's individual recurve W2 and a bronze medal in the women's team recurve.[2]

Nemati at the 2016 Summer Olympics' Parade of Nations

In 2015 Nemati made history by securing qualification for both the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2016 Summer Paralympics to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She qualified for the Olympics by placing second in the women's recurve at the 2015 Asian Archery Championships in Bangkok before winning gold at the 2015 Asian Para-archery Championships to qualify for the Paralympics. She is the first archer to qualify for both Games in the same year since Italian Paola Fantato in 1996.[12]

In January 2016 she was selected to be the flag bearer for the Iranian team during the Parade of Nations at the 2016 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.[8]

She competed in the women's individual event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She placed 49th in the ranking round with a score of 609. She was defeated by Inna Stepanova of Russia in the round of 32. She finished in 33rd place.[13]

Honors

Nemati won the 2013 Sport Accord's Spirit of Sport Individual Award.[7]

See also

• List of athletes who have competed in the Paralympics and Olympics

References

1. "Iran Paralympic archer Zahra Nemati to carry Olympic flag". BBC Sport. 25 January 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
2. "Athlete Bio NEMATI Zahra". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
3. "Iran archer defies odds". The Telegraph India. 17 September 2009. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
4. "Iran's Zahra NEMATI wins individual SportAccord award". World Archery Federation. 30 May 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
5. Mckenzie, Sheena (4 September 2012). "London 2012 Paralympics Blog". CNN. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
6. "Shaking off quake blues, this Iranian archer will shoot from her wheelchair". The Indian Express. 17 September 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
7. "Iran's Zahra Nemati Individual Winner of 2013 Spirit of Sport Awards". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
8. "Zahra Nemati Named Iran Flagbearer at Olympics". Tasnim News Agency. 23 January 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
9. "London 2012 Paralympic Games Archery Women's Individual Recurve W1/W2". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
10. "Iran's Zahra Nemati wins archery gold at 2012 Paralympics". Tehran Times. Payvand News. 4 September 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
11. "London 2012 Paralympic Games Archery Women's Team Recurve open". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
12. "No. 37 Nemati secures both Olympic, Paralympic spots for Iran". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
13. "Rio 2016". Rio 2016. Retrieved 2016-08-26.

External links

• Zahra Nemati at the World Archery Federation