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Salimi’s new world record and my shaking hands

Moment of the Year by Mohammad Reza Akhoundi

The most memorable moment of 2011 for me as a journalist was when Behdad Salimi set new world record in snatch, and I had to write this great moment with my shaking hands in order to send it to the Iranian media outlets.

During Paris Championships 2011, I had to send many reports to several newspapers and news agencies inside Iran, as the weightlifting competitions are very important for the Iranian people. Meanwhile as there was no photographer from Iran I was also responsible for taking photos. This had made my work more complicated, and in the competitions in which the Iranian weightlifters won medals, the situation was very hard for me.

On the final day of championships when Behdad Salimi was competiting , we were aware that he wanted to break the world record in snatch. Rather than writing the reports, I took my camera and went to the photographers’ stand. When Behdad came to the podium for the third time and set new record, I was so excited that could not even take a good photo. As I was rushed to send this very great report to Iran I went back to press tribune thinking about my not accurate photos. At the same time I missed a very beautiful scene, when Behdad sat on the barbell cheering with the audience for his remarkable victory and then embraced Hussein Rezazadeh, Iranian icon formerly holding the snatch record. I was so disappointed for losing the scene. Although my excitement just continued and my shaking hands did not allow me to write the reports quickly, I was proud to have witnessed the most memorable moment in the history of Iran’s sport.

Mohammad Reza Akhoundi

Senior Editor of Sport Group at Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA)