Sharp-shooting Iranian nurse wins gold at Tokyo Olympics

An Iranian COVID-19 frontline nurse has won his country’s first gold medal at the Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Javad Foroughi set an Olympic record on his way to gold in the men’s ten metre air pistol shooting event.

According to news reports, Mr Foroughi, who works on a COVID-19 ward at a Republican Guards hospital and has been twice infected with the virus, trained after his shifts in the basement of the hospital. During the second time he had the virus he was ill and unable to train for a month.

After winning his medal, Mr Foroughi said:

"As a nurse, I tell everyone if we follow the protocols, nobody will have COVID-19 and the whole world will be healthy. I tell all people, as a shooter and as a nurse, to support each other's health and I'm very happy that COVID-19 could not cancel the Olympics."

International Council of Nurses CEO Howard Catton added his congratulations, “On behalf of the entire ICN family we would like to send our best wishes to Javad for his exceptional achievement in the most difficult of circumstances. I’m sure I express the thoughts of nurses not only in Iran, but across the world, when I say Javad has inspired us all, not only for his sharp shooting but also because he represents the courage and fortitude of all our nurses in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Download the communique here