Lesson 39
They Could Have Been Better
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Translation
Iranians are really interested in sport, and have been especially successful in individual sports like wrestling, weight lifting, taekwondo and judo. For instance, the record for the strongest athlete in the world is held by an Iranian weight lifter. Of course, they could have been even better than this, but for various reasons such as the scarcity of good facilities and trainers, unsuitable diet and other reasons, they haven’t been able to be more successful.
Unfortunately, until the last few years, Iranian athletes haven’t been able to establish themselves at international level in team sports. However, in the last few years, the government and sports organisations have invested in some team sports like basketball and volleyball and these sports have developed a lot. As a result of this investment and development, Iran’s national volleyball team is now one of the best teams in Asia and the world.
Because of the Iran-Iraq war and other reasons, there are a large number of disabled people in Iran and these disabled people take part in various sports. In international competitions, Iranian disabled athletes have been even more successful than non-disabled athletes. For example, every four years, these athletes take part in the Paralympic Games and win gold, silver and bronze medals, records and good rankings for Iran. The Iranian sitting volleyball team is the best team in the world in the history of the Paralympic Games and has reached the top position on a few occasions.
It seems that Iranian disabled athletes perform better in group sports and help each other to reach their targets and greater success.