Masoumeh Baqeri, the international referee of the Islamic Republic of Iran, was awarded on Monday as the best referee by the organizing committee of World Taekwondo Grand Slam Champions Series, which were held in the eastern Chinese city of Wuxi on April 2 and 3.
Baqeri, who had been invited to adjudicate the competitions by the World Taekwondo Federation, was praised for having committed the least possible mistakes in her decisions during the four days of the preliminary and final competitions in Wuxi, and was finally selected and introduced as the "Best Referee" of the tournament.
Baqeri and Shahram Arbabi, the president of Iran Taekwondo Federation's referees committee, are the two international referees from our country that have been chosen as candidates for the Taekwondo competitions in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
A total of 60 referees from different continents will be nominated to judge in the Olympic Games, who should initially judge the World Championship, Grand Prix and Olympic qualifiers. After the final evaluation of the judges' performance in the said competitions, 26 judges (13 men and 13 women) will be invited to Paris to judge taekwondo competitions.
Baqeri’s stunning performance during the Grand Slam competitions has increased her chances of being among the elected judges for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
During the World Taekwondo Grand Slam Champions Series, Iranian taekwondo practitioners won four different gold, silver and bronze medals in the international tournament, with 389 athletes from 26 countries competing at the Wuxi Taihu International Expo Center in the Chinese city near Shanghai.
Iranian athlete Aryan Salimi won a gold medal, followed by Mehran Barkhordari and Danial Bozorgi who won two silver medals, and in the third rank, Reza Kalhor won a bronze medal in the two-day event.