TEHRAN - President Ebrahim Raisi held a reception at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Tehran, Iran on Tuesday for the Iranian medal winner athletes at Olympics, Paralympics, world championships and Asian Games.

Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs Kioumars Hashemi, head of National Olympic Committee (NOC) Mahmoud Khosravi Vafa and head of National Paralympic Committee (NPC) Ghafour Kargari attended the ceremony.

More than 1,500 athletes were honored in the ceremony.

The President stated that sports champions are the pioneers of creating hope and national pride and that every athlete standing on the championship platform and waving the proud flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran makes people happy, adding, “This public and social happiness is very valuable and precious. Therefore, it is necessary to emphasize the expansion of championship sports and the provision and development of its infrastructure”.

In this ceremony, with the presence of the President, the top champions and medallists of 32 disciplines and sports departments were praised.