Iranian national sitting volleyball team defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina in the final match of the men's category in the 2016 Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, to win Iran's eighth and last gold medal and help the nation finish 15th in the medals tally. Iran, which took part in the event with 111 athletes in 12 fields, collected a total of 24 medals with eight golds, nine silvers and seven bronzes, varzesh3.com reported. The national volleyball team beat their arch rival 3-1 on the last day of the event, September 18, to win their sixth Paralympics medal.
Before the match, both teams and the entire venue observed a moment of silence in memory of Iranian cyclist Bahman Golbarnezhad, who died on Saturday following a crash in the cycling road race. Also after winning the gold medal, the team dedicated it to Golbarnezhad. Further, tributes were paid to the late cyclist at the closing ceremony at Maracana Stadium.
"Tonight is a celebration of the last 12 days of sport but it is also a very somber occasion following Saturday’s extremely tragic events," Philip Craven, International Paralympic Committee president said. "The passing of Bahman Golbarnezhad has affected us all and left the whole Paralympic movement united in grief".
His death is the first in competition at a summer Olympics or Paralympics since the death of Danish cyclist Knud Enemark Jensen in the 100 km team time trial at the 1960 Rome Olympics.
A minute's silence was observed to mark the Iranina's death and flags were also lowered around the Paralympic village.
China once again dominated the global sporting arena after securing a total of 239 medals. China ranked first on the final medal tally after winning 107 gold, 81 silver and 51 bronze medals. The eastern power had topped the 2012 London Paralympics with a total of 231 medals. A total of 160 nations participated in the games.
Iran had finished 11th in the past round in London collecting the same number of 24 medals with but with two more golds and two less silvers compared to this year's edition.
