The International World Games Association, an international association which organizes every four years since 1981 the multi-sport event called the World Games, has released names of 20 candidates to gain the title of Athlete of the Year 2017.
Last summer, Poland played host to the World Games during which Iran’s Alipour wrote sports history for Iran by winning the first gold medal ever at The World Games for his country.
Reza Alipour did not only win The World Games title in Speed Climbing in Poland, he also holds the World Record in this discipline. The 23-year-old faced his final race at the Games alone – his competitor had a false start – but was able to keep himself together and finish with the fastest time, 5.57. His medal was the first ever gold medal for Iran at The World Games.
As such, he made it up the wall of 15 meters in 5.57 sec and his win meant that Iran has climbed the World Games medal ranking table as well: from Rank 52 to 30.
In a follow up IWGA press conference he explained what this historical achievement means to him. Asked by IWGA Communications Director Anna Jacobson about his feelings after winning the historical medal he said “it has meaning to me. And this medal made a dream come true which I had for so many years.”
The Iranian speed climber has also been one of the fastest Speed athletes at IFSC World Cup events in 2017. He set the latest men’s Speed world record at Nanjing (5.48), and the leader of the IFSC World Cup rankings was again a top performer.
Athletes nominated by IWGA will receive votes by the public here and as of January 15th 21:00 CET only the 9 candidates with the most votes will continue in the race.
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