TEHRAN – Sohrab Moradi will represent Iran in the West Asian Weightlifting Championship in Dubai, the UAE.

Iran was supposed to participate in the competition in Dubai with seven weightlifters but their flight was cancelled due to coronavirus threat.

Moradi, who won gold at 94kg in Rio but has suffered two serious injuries during qualifying, will compete in the event.

Moradi badly injured his spine a year ago then dislocated a shoulder last July.

He also is hopeful of a good performance at the Asian Championships in Kazakhstan in April.

Moradi is way down in 78th place in the current rankings and would probably need to lift close to world-record levels in both those competitions to make it – but he is the world record holder in snatch and total at 96kg, both set when he won the 2018 world title.