I Had to Fight for Gold in Nagoya on One Leg

In an interview with Safir Arjan, Younes Emami recounts the nightmare of an injury 10 days before departure, defeating the Olympic champion, and winning his second Asian Games gold.

In an interview with Ambassador Arjan, Yunus Emami talks about the nightmare of the injury 10 days before the deployment to the defeat of the Olympic champion and winning the second gold of the Asian Games.

Safir Arjan, one of Iran's 13 gold medals in the Nagoya Asian Games was won by Younes Emami; The 74-kilogram freestyle wrestler, the days leading up to sending the convoy, were accompanied by worry and disappointment due to his ankle injury. Emami, who stayed away from training for about 10 days and was not even able to stand on his feet and soften them, went to the mat in Japan with a sprained ankle, and in a difficult way, he defeated well-known competitors such as Olympic champion Jamalov and Kaipanov, a prominent wrestler from Kazakhstan, and reached the finals. In the last race, he won a valuable gold for the Iranian caravan by defeating the Japanese Aogi. In a conversation with Ambassador Arjan, Emami talked about the difficult days of injury, worries before the competition, the difficult Nagoya draw, the critical moments of the final and the reaction of the people after winning the gold medal.

Let's start with your injury; Just in the days when you were preparing for the Asian Games, you injured your ankle.

It was really difficult. About 10 days before the deployment, I injured my ankle and during this time I could not train at all. The conditions were such that I could not even stand up to soften. When this happened, I felt that everything I had built in my mind was ruined; All the plans and images that I had imagined for myself from the races came before my eyes and I felt that everything was lost. At that time, I stopped thinking not only about gold, but also about medals.

How did you manage to keep yourself mentally during those difficult days?

Mr. Debir and Mr. Pejman (correctionist, head coach of the national team) constantly consoled me and said that there is nothing wrong, the body rests and recovers. When you don't train, maybe your body will get stronger and you will come back with more energy. They said that injuries happen to athletes and you are not the only one who has faced such a situation. I was saying to myself that there is no problem, it happened, it was part of it and God wanted the situation to turn out like this for me. I was trying not to lose myself, although the conditions were really difficult. When you are preparing for an important match and suddenly something like this happens, it is not easy to deal with it.

How did you feel when the draw was made and you saw that the main contenders were on your side?

When we arrived in Japan, they taped my leg and I did my first training session there. Then the lottery was drawn and I saw that from Japan's Aogi, who is the world champion, to Jamalov, the Olympic champion, and Kaipanov from Kazakhstan, everyone is in my lottery. At that time, the first thing that came to my mind was how am I going to wrestle against these wrestlers with this leg? But I still tried to keep my spirits up. I thought about the exercises I had done and the people who were waiting for the competition to start so that we could bring medals to Iran. Anyway, people always expect from wrestling. I said to myself that I should go to the mat and leave everything I have. Even if I'm going to wrestle on one leg, I have to use all my strength and then get off the mat. It was important not to miss anything.

Many people joked about the possibility of your failure after seeing your lottery in cyberspace. Did you see their conversation?

Yes, when some people saw my draw, they joked and said, "Be careful, don't do anything and don't take away our honor!" I also took these words as a joke. This is the virtual space and everyone gives a comment. Of course, I knew my condition and I was more worried about how I should wrestle with that physical condition.

Your first match was against Jamalov. How much did this victory give you confidence in the rest of the way?

It was a good start. When I won the first ship, the situation was different for me. After Jamalov, I took the second ship against the representative of India, and then I got to Kaipanov from Kazakhstan. I moved forward step by step and thanks to God I was able to pass these tough matches. Of course, in all these ships, I would tip my leg so that I could stand on it and race. After the competition, they told me that I had torn some ankle ligaments. Now I am in the national team camp and I am doing treatment and care work so that I can find better conditions as soon as possible.

In the final, you lost 4 points against the Japanese Aogi. With that injured ankle, how did you manage to get back into racing?

Augie is a good wrestler; He became the champion of Asia in the weight of 74 kg and won the world gold in the weight of 70 kg. It was not an easy opponent, especially since he wrestled in his own country and had the support of the audience. When I fell behind by 4 points, I got up and told myself that I can make up for this result. I knew I had to fight until the last moment. I didn't want to think about my injury or let the condition of my foot affect my decisions. Thank God, I was able to score 9 points and win the gold medal of the Asian Games for the Iranian caravan by winning the final. That moment was very precious to me; Because after all those events and worries, I reached something that I thought I might not even be able to do.

After winning the gold medal, how were the reactions in cyberspace?

After gold, everything changed. I received many messages of congratulations and thanks in the virtual space. Even those who were joking before the matches were happy and congratulated me after the championship. I also thanked all of them. After all, they were joking and now they were happy that Iran has won the gold medal. It was important for me that people were happy and satisfied with the result I got.

This is your second gold in the Asian Games.

I had not thought much about this. This was the grace of God. Sometimes they say that the path is difficult, the lot is difficult, or the situation does not go as you want; All this is true, but when God wills, circumstances can come together in such a way that you get results. Despite all the problems I had before the competition, I tried not to be disappointed and to fight until the last moment. I am happy that I was able to win a gold medal for the second time in the Asian Games and make people happy.

All the competitors you beat in Nagoya are now at the World Championships in Kazakhstan.

I hope that Amir Mohammad Yazdani will be successful in the world championships and will be able to fly the flag of Iran. If the gold reaches Iran, it will be great and it doesn't really matter who wins the medal. The important thing is that Iran's wrestling is successful and the national team get paid for their efforts. I don't like it to be said that the wrestlers I defeated in the Asian Games are now in the World Championships and this will create a psychological burden for our national team members. No wrestler goes to the mat to lose. Everyone is training to get the best result and represent their country.

I hope Amir Mohammad and all the children of the national team will be successful in the world championships and the Iranian team will be able to win the championship.