Iranian wrestler Kamil Ghasemi, who won a bronze medal in the 120-kg weight category at the 2012 London Olympics, received the gold medal for the same competition on Thursday, after the first and second places were excluded for doping, according to the official Iranian news agency.
“Kamil Qassemi officially received his gold medal in the freestyle wrestling competition in the 120-kg weight category at the 2012 London Summer Olympics, and became the most decorated heavyweight wrestler in the history of Iran,” IRNA wrote. “Last year, the International Olympic Committee sent a letter to the Iranian Olympic Committee informing it of Its decision to terminate the investigation into the activities of Uzbekistan’s Artur Tamiyazov and Georgian Davit Mudzmanashvili.”
In July 2019, the International Olympic Committee announced that Qassemi had won gold. “This is a good and beautiful feeling. The Olympic gold medal is desired by every athlete,” Qasemi said during the gold reception ceremony in Tehran.
IRNA added that the head of the Iranian Olympic Committee, Reza Salehi Amiri, received the gold during a trip to the Swiss city of Lausanne, the headquarters of the International Olympics, a few months ago.
As a result of this double activity, he shared the gold with Russia’s Qasemi, Belial Makhov, who had originally won bronze, along the lines of the Iranian wrestler. The Russian wrestler, in turn, was suspended in September 2021 for four years, with retroactive effect until January 2024, after taking a prohibited substance.
The 34-year-old, born in the northern Iranian province of Mazandaran, also has a silver medal in the Rio de Olympics in Brazil in the 125-kilogram weight category.