TEHRAN - Iran’s cycling team continued their disappointing decline at the Nagoya Asian Games, failing to deliver any encouraging results. A review of the past five editions of the Asian Games highlights a steady deterioration in the country’s performance, raising serious questions about the development and future direction of the sport in Iran.

The 2006 Asian Games in Doha marked one of the most successful campaigns in Iran’s cycling history. The national team collected four medals, including three silver and one bronze. Mehdi Sohrabi claimed silver in the men’s road race, while Iranian cyclists also secured podium finishes in various road and track events.

Four years later, at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, Iran’s medal tally declined. Hossein Askari won bronze in the individual road time trial, while Iranian riders secured two additional bronze medals in team track events, bringing the country’s total to three medals, ana.ir reported.

At the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, Arvin Moazemi Goudarzi delivered another significant result by winning silver in the men’s road race. In a closely contested competition against some of Asia’s leading riders, he secured second place and kept Iran competitive in road cycling.

However, despite that silver medal, Iran’s overall performance across other disciplines was not strong enough to suggest sustained progress. In track cycling, mountain biking and other events, the country’s representatives struggled to establish themselves among Asia’s leading contenders.

Iran’s decline became more pronounced at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, where the cycling team failed to win a medal despite competing in road, track and mountain bike events.

Farzad Shokri and Faranak Partoazar finished fourth in mountain bike cross-country, while Mohammad Ganjkhanlou also placed fourth in the track omnium. Hossein Zanjanian finished fifth in the men’s downhill, and Iran’s road cyclists were unable to reach the podium.

After several editions in which Iranian cyclists had won medals, Jakarta marked a disappointing campaign, with fourth-place finishes representing the team’s best results.

At the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, Iran managed to return to the podium, but only once. Ali Labib finished fourth in both the men’s road race and the track omnium, narrowly missing out on medals in both events. Partoazar, however, won bronze in the women’s mountain bike cross-country, securing Iran’s only cycling medal of the Games.

Although the overall medal haul remained modest, the fourth-place finishes in Jakarta and Hangzhou suggested that some Iranian cyclists were still capable of competing closely with their Asian rivals.

At the Nagoya Asian Games, however, the results in road cycling offered little cause for optimism. Mandana Dehghan finished 13th in the women’s individual time trial and 14th in the women’s road race. In the men’s individual time trial, Nabi Mirbagheri placed eighth.

Mirbagheri, Iran’s sole representative in the track omnium, also endured a difficult campaign, finishing 12th.

Ali Labib, who represented Iran at the Olympic Games, was left out of the squad for Nagoya following disagreements, resulting in Iran forfeiting one of its allocated places.

A review of Iran’s performances across five Asian Games editions, from Doha to Nagoya, reveals a troubling downward trajectory. The country won four medals in 2006, three in 2010, and a silver medal in Incheon. Iran then finished without a medal in Jakarta before claiming just one bronze in Hangzhou. In Nagoya,  the cyclists remained well off the pace for a podium finish.

The repeated failure to contend for medals, alongside finishes ranging from fourth to 14th place, raises serious questions about the direction of Iranian cycling and the effectiveness of its development programs.

Iranian cycling needs far more than simply sending athletes to the Asian Games to reverse this decline. Rasoul Asadi, president of the Iran Cycling Federation, must address the team’s deteriorating results and provide a transparent explanation for why a sport with a history of Asian Games success has been unable to maintain its former standing in recent years.