TEHRAN - Iran's Ice climber, Mohammadreza Korouyeh Safdarian, says breaking the dominance of Russia in the world's Ice climbing has been a great job done with his and his countryman Mohsen Beheshti Rad.

Safdarian snatched Iran's second gold medal at International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA) Ice Climbing World Championships in Saas-Fee. Beheshti Rad claimed the country's first gold medal in the men's speed final.

“We did a great job in terms of what we achieved in Switzerland,” said Safdarian in his interview with Tehran Times.

“The demanding level of the tournament made it difficult for every ice climber to top the podium. The Russian climbers always are among the best, but Mohsen and I could break their dominance and end their reign in the competitions,” he added.

Having finished fifth in the men's speed contest, Safdarian managed to stand first, achieving a gold medal in the overall results.

Safdarian won a bronze medal at the World Championships in the same city four years ago.

“It was three exciting and wonderful days for me as I was competing with some of the best climbers of the world. It was Iran's first gold medal in the combined category, in which I managed to win a bronze medal in 2019,” said the 30-year-old athlete.

When asked about the issues and problems of ice climbing in Iran, Safdarian said: “The federation's support has been limited to sending us to the world championships and the Asian championships; otherwise we will participate in the rest of the competitions with the help of sponsors or by spending our own money.

“Of course, Mr. Reza Zarei, head of Iran’s Mountaineering Federation, is doing his best to support us, and I understand the problems and the condition of the federation in terms of financial issues. In Iran, we have a shortage in terms of facilities and equipment for ice climbing, and also, there is a lack of standard Ice walls in the country. It makes our job massively difficult to battle for the world titles,” he concluded.