Hadi SAEI

Hadi Saei is one of just three taekwondokas to have won two titles in the young Olympic sport, and one of two (with Steven Lopez) to have earned an additional bronze medal. Saei won this bronze medal at the sport’s début in 2000 in the 68 kg division, which he won four years later in Athens. He then moved up to the 80 kg class for the Beijing Games to win his second Olympic gold. This title also made him the most decorated Iranian athlete at the Olympics. Besides his Olympic successes, Hadi Saei has won two World Championships, in 1999 and 2005, both in the non-Olympic 72 kg division. In 2003, Saei auctioned off his Olympic bronze medal to help victims of the earthquake that hit the Iranian city of Bam.