Hadi Saei
Hadi Saei | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Member of City Council of Tehran | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 29 April 2007 – 22 August 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal details | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Hadi Saei Bonehkohal June 10, 1976 Bostan Abad, Iran | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Political party | Independent | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other political affiliations | Reformists Coalition (2006) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alma mater | Islamic Azad University | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sports career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country | ![]() | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Taekwondo | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Hadi Saei (Persian: هادی ساعی, born June 10, 1976) is an Iranian-Azerbaijani councilor and former taekwondo athlete who became the most successful Iranian athlete in Olympic history and the most titled champion in this sport by winning 9 world class titles (three olympic titles in 2000, 2004 and 2008, two world championships titles, four world cup titles and one world olympic qualification tournament).[1][2] Earlier in his career and in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Saei had won the Bronze medal. He was elected as member of City Council of Tehran in 2006 local elections and was reelected in 2013 but lost the 2017 election. He is one of the three most medal winners olympians in the sport of Taekwondo.[3]
Career
[edit]He has been practicing Taekwondo since he was six years old. Having previously competed in Lightweight (67–72 kg), he is the 1999 World Champion and 2003 World Championship silver medalist. When the Iranian town of Bam was devastated in the 2003 earthquake, Saei put his medals on auction to raise money for the victims.
He has been World Champion in the Tae Kwon Do World Championships two times. Currently, he is a senior at the Iran Physical Education University.
Saei officially ended his career as a Tae Kwon Do athlete on November 8, 2008 (18 Aban 1387).[4]
2008 Summer Olympics
[edit]In the first match against the Nepalese Deepak Bista his right hand was fractured during the fight however he did not indicate his injury throughout the entire competition despite enormous pain until he won the final against the Italian Mauro Sarmiento. Immediately after winning the Gold medal his hand was in plaster cast. Previously he wanted to say farewell after winning in the final, but his coach Reza Mehmandoust has advised him not to do it.
By winning his gold medal, Saei ensured that Iran was leaving Beijing with a better result than their poor showing at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, where they received only one bronze medal. Full results of Iran's medals in the history of the Summer Olympic games can be found in the 'Medal tables' in Iran at the Olympics.
Titles
[edit]- 1995 World Military Taekwondo Championships SILVER
- 1996 World Military Taekwondo Championships BRONZE
- 1998 World Taekwondo Cup GOLD
- 1999 World Taekwondo Championships GOLD
- 2000 World Taekwondo Cup GOLD
- 2000 Sydney Olympic Games BRONZE
- 2001 World Taekwondo Cup GOLD
- 2002 Asian Taekwondo Championships SILVER
- 2002 World Taekwondo Cup GOLD
- 2002 Busan Asian Games GOLD
- 2003 World Taekwondo Championships SILVER
- 2004 Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament GOLD
- 2004 Athens Olympic Games GOLD
- 2005 World Taekwondo Championship GOLD
- 2006 Asian Taekwondo Championships GOLD
- 2006 Doha Asian Games BRONZE
- 2007 World Taekwondo Championship BRONZE
- 2008 Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament GOLD
- 2008 Beijing Olympic Games GOLD
In popular culture
[edit]Hadi Saei starred in the TV series Amin directed by Manuchehr Hadi in 2015.[5]
Personal life
[edit]He has suffered great personal tragedy having lost his brother and father in the same year, in addition to his younger brother who succumbed to cancer the following year.[6] Saei is originally Iranian Azerbaijani from the East Azerbaijan Province and Bostanabad city.[7]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Saei Bonehkohal, Hadi".
- ^ "18th ATU Championships -Zheng Zhou, China - April 26–28". Archived from the original on May 14, 2008. Retrieved August 23, 2008.
- ^ Autopica (2016). "Top 3 Medalists in Taekwondo Sport in men's competitions". Autopica.[permanent dead link]
- ^ BaniComm Co. "ISNA - 11-08-2008 - 87/8/18 - سرويس: / قهرماني - همگاني / شماره خبر: 1231191". Isna.ir. Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2012-08-07.
- ^ BaniComm Co. (2015). "داریوش فرهنگ و هادی ساعی پلیسهای جدید تلویزیون". Tasnim News. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
- ^ "مصاحبه نوروزی با قهرمان قهرمانان (هادی ساعی)". Tebyan.net. Retrieved 2012-08-07.
- ^ "هادي ساعي مدال خود را تقديم به مردم آذربايجان كرد". Fars News Agency. Archived from the original on 2013-12-30. Retrieved 2013-12-25.
- (in Persian) Biography
External links
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Hadi Saei at TaekwondoData.com
- Hadi Saei at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
- Hadi Saei official website at the Wayback Machine (archived 2008-08-30)
- World Tae Kwon Do Online Magazine Archived 2007-06-12 at the Wayback Machine
- Tae Kwon Do players (Tae Kwon Do fan site)
- Tae Kwon Do Club / Kauno Taekwondo Klubas
- Saei's Final Match in Beijing 2008 Olympic at the Wayback Machine (archived 2008-11-03)
- Photos of the farewell ceremony at the Wayback Machine (archived 2008-12-11)
- Iranian male taekwondo practitioners
- Olympic taekwondo practitioners for Iran
- Taekwondo practitioners at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Taekwondo practitioners at the 2004 Summer Olympics
- Taekwondo practitioners at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Olympic gold medalists for Iran
- Olympic bronze medalists for Iran
- Martial artists from Tehran
- 1976 births
- Living people
- Asian Games gold medalists for Iran
- Asian Games bronze medalists for Iran
- Asian Games medalists in taekwondo
- Olympic medalists in taekwondo
- Taekwondo practitioners at the 1998 Asian Games
- Taekwondo practitioners at the 2002 Asian Games
- Taekwondo practitioners at the 2006 Asian Games
- Iranian sportsperson-politicians
- Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics
- Iranian Azerbaijanis
- Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games
- Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games
- Tehran Councillors 2013–2017
- Tehran Councillors 2007–2013
- Recipients of the Order of Courage (Iran)
- World Taekwondo Championships medalists
- Asian Taekwondo Championships medalists
- Iranian martial artists