(IranSportsPress.com | PressTV)- Iran’s Kimia Alizadeh Zenoorin has won the bronze medal in the -57kg class of taekwondo competitions at the Rio 2016 Olympics, becoming the first Iranian woman to win an Olympic medal.
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The Iranian sportswoman defeated Sweden’s Nikita Glasnovic to win the historic medal.
Zenoorin won the Youth Olympics two years ago, and took the bronze medal at last year’s world championships.
“I am very excited and I want to thank my parents and my coach”.
Alizadeh, 18, who fights wearing a head-covering under her head-guard, beat Nikita Glasnovic of Sweden 5-1 in the under-57 kilogram division.
But clothing requirements imposed by hardline religious leaders have placed barriers to women competing freely in many sports.
Nine women have competed for Iran at the Rio Games, with archer Zehra Nemati chosen to bear her country’s flag at the opening ceremony.
A protester was questioned by Olympic security in Rio for holding a sign that read “Let Iranian Women Enter Their Stadiums” at a volleyball match on Saturday.
Iran have won 65 medals at the Olympics in just four sports – wrestling, weightlifting, taekwondo and athletics – with Zenoorin’s bronze the Asian nation’s fifth medal in Rio.
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South Korea’s Lee Dae-hoon and Joel Gonzalez of Spain, a gold medallist in London, won the men’s under-68kg bronze medals, while Hedaya Malak of Egypt landed the other women’s bronze.
