Iran’s Nemati wins Spirit of Sport award

TEHRAN,May 30(MNA)--Paralympic gold medalist Zahra Nemati of Iran was presented with the Sport Accord “Spirit of Sport” award on Wednesday. The 2012 Paralympic archery champion, who was nominated by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), edged out Polish Aikido sensei Piotr Borowski to the top prize for helping to alter perceptions in Iranian society of disabled people and inspiring women to take up para-archery in her native country. Recurve archer Zahra Nemati won the gold medal in women's individual W1/W2 class event at 2012 London Paralympics. Nemati is the first Iranian woman to win a gold medal at Olympic or Paralympic level. “I am so happy since I was a representative of all Iranian Muslim women. I present my prize to Iranian sport society,” Nemati told the Tehran Times correspondent. Each year, the 107 international sports federations and organizations who are members of SportAccord enhance their commitment to using sport as a tool to create change and improve the situation of communities around the world.