Navid Zanganeh

Navid Zanganeh is an Iranian wrestler and former member of the Iranian U-23 freestyle wrestling team.

Navid Zanganeh

Personal information
Native name	نوید زنگنه ‌
Full name	Navid Zanganeh
Nickname(s)	cheetah , khabib
Born	(1996-07-16) 16 July 1996 (age 28) Eslamshahr, Iran
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	74 kg (163 lb)
Sport
Country	Iran
Sport	Wrestling
Coached by	Alireza Rezaei, Sardar Molavi, Alireza Rezaeimanesh,
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Asian Games 1 – – World Championships – – 1 Asian Championships – 1 –

Wrestling career

Zanganeh wrestled for club Atrak Khorasan and represented Iran on the world stage.

During the 2018 Senior U23 World Championships in Bucharest Zanganeh earned a bronze medal after defeating Azerbaijani wrestler Ismail Abdullaev.^[1]

At the 2019 U-23 Senior Asian Championships Zanganeh won a silver medal after beating opponents from Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan before facing defeat in the finals.^[2]

The Takhti freestyle wrestling tournament took place on 7 and 8 February 2019 with representatives from Azerbaijan, Turkey, Russia, Armenia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Georgia. Zanganeh placed third and was a part of Iran's overall victory in the tournament.^[3]

Arrest and asylum in Canada

Zanganeh was shot at anti-government rally in Tehran and was subsequently arrested after being taken to hospital. He was detained for 15 days and was eventually released from Fashafaviye prison.^[4] Zanganeh was immediately released from his club Atrak Khorasan and was unable to wrestle for Iran.^[5] After the arrest was made public, Zanganeh emigrated to Canada in the hopes to resume his wrestling career representing Canada.^[6]

Violation of anti-doping rule and sanction

The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) gave an announcement which stated that Zanganeh was subjected to a four-year suspension due to a violation of anti-doping regulations. The violation stemmed from the detection of oxandrolone, a prohibited anabolic substance, in a urine sample of Zanganeh. The urine sample was collection during an in-competition sampling session on March 11, 2023. The sanction entails an ineligibility to participate in any sport signatory to the Canadian Anti-Doping Program (CADP) at any capacity (including training with teammates), and concludes on April 24, 2027.^[7]

Mixed martial arts career

Navid began his MMA career in Vancouver, Canada. His head coach is currently Dan Golkar out of Scorpion MMA in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia.

References

1. tristan. "Senior U23 World Championships". United World Wrestling. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
2. "Three medals for Iran's freestyle wrestlers in Mongolia championship". Iran Press (in Persian). 24 March 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
3. "FarsNews Agency - Iran Claims Title at Int'l Freestyle Wrestling Cup". en.farsnews.ir. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
4. Stone, Pooya (2 February 2020). "Iranian National Athletes Leave the Country". www.iranfocus.com. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
5. "Iranian Wrestler Released From Detention Seeks Asylum In Canada". RFE/RL. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
6. "Iranian wrestler seeks asylum in Canada after released from detention". InterMat. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
7. "Wrestling Athlete Suspended for the Presence of Oxandrolone | Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport". www.cces.ca. Retrieved 14 December 2023.