Iran weightlifter Kianoush Rostami will reportedly auction his Rio Olympic gold medal and give the money raised to victims of Sunday’s earthquake near Iran’s border with Iraq.
“My gold medal belongs to my people, and I just hand it back to them,” Rostami said, according to the Tehran Times. “I didn’t sleep in the previous nights due to a sorrowful event.”
An Instagram post on a Rostami account with 129,000 followers outlined how to bid.
Rostami, 26, broke the world record for total weight in taking 85kg (187 pounds) gold in Rio — eclipsing his own record by one kilogram with 396kg (or 873 pounds) for the snatch and clean and jerk combined.
Rostami was one of the three Iranian gold medalists in Rio. He also took 85kg silver at the 2012 London Games and won world titles in 2011 and 2014.
A devoutly religious man, Rostami practices the same routine before every lift: He stands over the bar, lifts his head, takes a prolonged deep breath and says, declaratively, in Arabic, “In the name of God.”
NBC Olympic research contributed to this report.
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