A heavy load and a moral victory for Israel against Iran
I'd like to show you video of the medal ceremony of the 105 kilo category of the World Weightlifting Championships in Poland last week.Let's go to the videotape.
For a full explanation of the video, go here. But this is the sweetest part:
The two athletes mounted the podium to receive their medals, together with the third-placed competitor from Germany. Britva and the German shook hands. But when Britva offered his to Khodadadi, the Iranian refused it.I'm amazed that the Iranian didn't just forfeit which is what they usually do to ensure that they don't lose to Israelis. Maybe the Iranians were super confident that Khodadadi would win. I guess he won't be competing anymore.
That unsporting gesture didn’t prevent Khodadadi from being rebuked by the Iranian authorities for standing alongside an Israeli. According to Radio Zamaneh, “the Head of Iran’s National Athletic Organization had earlier written a letter to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, to receive instructions on how to handle situations where Iranian athletes have to confront Israeli athletes.” You don’t need a wild imagination to figure out what those would have been.
Read the whole thing.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:34 PM
2 Comments:
I can't tell if the Iranian's hand gesture intended to mean "buzz off" or "I'd rather keep my head on my neck, if you get my drift."
I think the Iranian seemed to be apologizing by raising his hand. The regime puts these athletes in a terrible position.
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