Arash Miresmaili (b. ca. 1981) is an Iranian judo athlete (judoka). He is a double world featherweight champion and was the favourite for the gold medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics, where he was the flag bearer for Iran at the opening ceremones. Slated to fight Israeli competitor Ehud Vaks in the first round, he was disqualified from competing because he was above the allowable weight limit for his class. It is widely believed that Miresmaili deliberately set out to be disqualified rather than compete against an Israeli, which is supported by his own comments: "Although I have trained for months and was in good shape I refused to fight my Israeli opponent to sympathise with the suffering of the people of Palestine and I do not feel upset at all." [1]

Comments from Iranian officials have also supported this view. The Iranian state news agency quoted Iranian President Mohammad Khatami as saying that Miresmaeili's actions would be "recorded in the history of Iranian glories" and that the nation considered him to be "the champion of the 2004 Olympic Games." Iranian Olympic team chairman Nassrollah Sajadi told the Sharq newspaper that the government should give the athlete $115,000 for his actions, the amount the Iranian government awards gold-medal winning athletes. [2]

On September 8, 2004, Iran's official press agency announced the government had given Miresmaili $125,000, the same amount awarded to Iran's two Athens gold medalists. [3]

External links

• Mystery over Iran judo 'protest' on BBC NEWS.