By NPC Iran
A week-long celebration took place as athletes and officials came together to celebrate Iran’s 14th National Paralympic Day in Tehran on 16 October 2021.
Under the slogan ‘Mobility, Empowerment and Making Honour’, the event was held in the grass court of National Olympic and Paralympic Academy (NOPA IRAN), while attended by many distinguished guests, including the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, President of the National Olympic Committee and President of the National Paralympic Committee, Mahmoud Khosravi Vafa.
“We are dedicated to ensuring that sufficient attention is given to providing budget, infrastructure, and supporting Para athletes in different areas such as their future profession, medalists’ prize money,” stated I.R. Iran’s Sports and Youth Affairs Minister, Dr. Hamid Sajjadi.
Top Para archer Zahra Nemati, who recently claimed her third consecutive Paralympic gold medal at Tokyo 2020 Games, recited the message of National Paralympic Day as the representative of the Iranian Paralympians.
The day witnessed celebration of the work being carried out by the athletes in addition to increasing public notice of the Movement and drawing national attention to the building awareness of Para sport from playground to podium.
With the pandemic diverging the core focus of the Paralympic Day celebration to social media, the Secretary of this ceremony emphasised that 13 Federations, and altogether 27 Ministries, Organisations and NGOs did their part to promote this occasion.
The National Paralympic Day seeks not only to celebrate the incredible achievements of Paralympians, but also to educate the society about impairment. By enhancing awareness and understanding of the challenges of competing in high-level sports events with physical impairments, the day celebrates fitness, well-being, sport culture and educational opportunities, while promoting the Paralympic values of determination, inspiration, courage and equality.
The National Paralympic Day in I.R. Iran was first introduced in 2003, and is a week-long activity all over the country. A Presidential Order registered the Day in Iranian Calendar since 2016. This year, Iran’s 14th National Paralympic Day took place from October 10-16, 2021.
