The first day of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games was full of emotions, medals and world records for the Asian delegations. Mongolia’s Paralympic history changed on the first day of the Games in Paris 2024, when Surenjav Ulambayar became the first female from her country to win medal at the Paralympic Games when she defeated Iran’s Zahra Rahimi in the K44 -52kg gold medal final.
As well as being the first medal for a female, this was Mongolia’s third ever gold medal at the Paralympics and the first in taekwondo.
The 24-year-old had already won a silver medal at the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou 2022 and a bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships.
Ulambayar received the title of Hero of Labor of Mongolia and the Golden Soyombo insignia of the Hero of Labor of Mongolia and the Order of Sukhbaatar. Later, she expressed pride in the goal achieved: “Achieving this success would not have been possible without the support of many people. First, I want to thank my two coaches, the leaders of the Mongolian Para Taekwondo Federation, my training partners, my friends and my family. It is thanks to all of you that I carry this precious title,” said Ulambayar.
Zahra Rahimi, Iran’s youngest athlete in Paris claimed silver.
Iranian fans didn’t have to wait long for their first medal at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games either when Zahra Rahimi, the youngest athlete in the Iranian delegation and just 15 years old won silver on her Paralympic debut.
The athlete expressed her excitement at having achieved a medal, “I am very excited to have won a first medal for the country in Paris, although I would have been much happier if it had been a gold,” she said.
She added that she had an injury to her knee before the final and was not in shape, however, that did not stop her from achieving second place.
“I am young, and I will definitely be aiming for the gold medal at the next Paralympics,” said Rahimi, who will still be a teenager for the next Paralympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028. Iran and the media will undoubtedly have their eyes on her.
