Kazem Sarikhani

Kazem Sarikhani first gained attention on the international judo scene in 1996, when he won a bronze medal at that year’s Asian Championships in the 71 kg division. In 1998 he moved up to the 81 kg (half-midweight) category and took bronze at the Asian Games, before capturing silver and gold at the 1999 and 2000 Asian Championships respectively. His next stop was the 2000 Summer Olympics, where he defeated Brahima Guindo of Mali in his opening match and Graeme Randall of Great Britain in the quarterfinals before losing to Nuno Delgado of Portugal, an upcoming bronze medalist, in the semifinals. In the repêchage he bested Australia’s Daniel Kelly before been dispatched by Estoina’s Aleksei Budõlin, the other upcoming bronze medalist.

After a fifth-place finish at the 2002 Asian Games, Sarikhani retired from active competition and took up coaching. He was eventually selected to serve as the coach of the Saudi Arabian national team, but developed a neurological disorder, allegedly after being poisoned, and was unable to take up the role. He spent the last five years of his life suffering from illness, occasionally restricted to mental hospitals, before dying in October 2013, at the age of only 35, from a heart attack related to his condition.