72OLYMPIC REVIEWLONDON 2012Bagheri won abronze medal inthis year's WorldChampionships

OLYMPIC REVIEW73LONDON 2012How old are you and what is yourdream?I'm 18 years old and my dream is to win agold medal at the Olympic Games. I won't be happyunless I fulfill this dream.How did you choose Taekwondo as your sport?During my childhood, I was a great fan ofwrestling, and I really wanted to be a wrestler butsince there was no wrestling club in our vicinity, myparents registered me in a taekwondo class. I wasnine years old when I started to compete inchildren's competitions and then I progressedthrough various youth leagues.What is your main goal for participatingin the 2012 London Olympic Games?My main goal is to win a gold medal, ofcourse, and I will not settle for anything less thanthis. Everything I do over the next two years isgeared to achieving this end - I will be approachingLondon with nothing less than total dedication.Could you tell us about your trainingschedule in the run-up to the Games?At present, I train twice a day - in the morning and in the evening. Part of my programme is devoted to body conditioning, and the evening Imostly spend practicing technique. In fact, you couldsay I'm in a 24-hour training camp!Do you know much about the athletes youwill be competing against in London?In my weight category I have three major rivalswho I think I will be competing for the gold medalwith me - they are Joel Gonzalez from Spain,Afghanistan's Hasan Rezai and Guillermo Pérez fromMexico, who won the gold medal in Beijing.Who else is in your training camp fromyour National Team?We have a very strong taekwondo team inIran. My team-mates who train with me are BehzadKhodadad, Mohammad Motamed, and Ali NasrAbadani. Behzad is a former world champion in theflyweight category and Mohammad is the currentworld champion in the featherweight section so I can learn so much each day by training with them. Who is your role model in your career?Undoubtedly Hadi Saii who is a world andOlympic champion. He competed in the 68 kg(featherweight) at the 2004 Olympic Games and won the gold medal. Then he fought in the 80 kgcategory in Beijing four years later and won hissecond Olympic gold. There is no athlete moredecorated than him in Iran.Tell us about your personal interests.What sort of music you listen to?I like Iranian classical music the best. I have toadmit that I'm not interested in pop music at all!TAEKWONDO MEISAMBAGHERITHE TALENTED TEENAGE IRANIAN IS LOOKING TO CONTINUE HIS COUNTRY'SFINE TRADITION IN THE SPORT AT THE LONDON GAMES AFTER WINNING THE BRONZE MEDAL AT THIS YEAR'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS AQAQAQAQAQAQAQAQ