(L-R) Silver Medalist Bahri Tanrikulu of Turkey, gold medalist Steven Lopez of the United States and bronze medalist Yossef Karami of Iran pose for photos after the men's under 80 kg Taekwondo event on 28/08/2004
(L-R) Silver Medalist Bahri Tanrikulu of Turkey, gold medalist Steven Lopez of the United States and bronze medalist Yossef Karami of Iran pose for photos after the men's under 80 kg Taekwondo event on 28/08/2004
Great shot! Iran always had an interst in Martial Arts, I used to read of their fighters all the time in the world competitions.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1202264/posts
Since the fall of Khitan kingdom by Jurchen Chin, Khitans hated Jurchens so much that Khitans allied with Mongols. Soon after that, Mongols led by Genghis Khan grew as a huge empire. Fearless Khitans became the spearhead of conquering troops of Yuan Dynasty(Mongol Empire), and were sent all over the world. As a result, Khitans were dispersed, and lost opportunity to rise as a major ethnic group in China again. Chinese also presented a story that some Khitans migrated to Khorman area in current Iran and converted to Islam after their Kingdom fell.