Photo: OSports / CC BY-SA 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)

Matt Ghaffari

マット・ガファリ　/　まっと・がふぁり

Iranian-American Olympic wrestler

November 11, 1961 (age 64)　・　Tehran, Tehran Province, Iran

From Tehran Province
Amateur wrestler
Professional wrestler
Mixed martial artist

My Take

Ghaffari embodies the classic immigrant-to-Olympian arc, coming from Iran and rising to represent the United States at the very top of heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestling. That 1996 silver in Atlanta, won in front of a home crowd against the legendary Aleksandr Karelin, is the stuff of grappling lore; nearly everyone lost to Karelin in that era, so pushing him at all was an achievement. I have a soft spot for heavyweight Greco because it is such a brutal, leverage-driven battle of giants, and Ghaffari was right in the thick of it. His persistence at the elite level for years is genuinely admirable.

Overview

Matt Ghaffari (born November 11, 1961, in Tehran, Iran) is an Iranian-American Greco-Roman wrestler. Competing as a heavyweight for the United States, he won a silver medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. Standing 6-foot-4, he was a dominant figure in heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestling in the 1990s before later ventures into combat sports.

1. Profile

Name (English): Matt Ghaffari
Name (Japanese): マット・ガファリ
Reading: まっと・がふぁり
Born: November 11, 1961 (age 64)
Zodiac / Chinese zodiac: Scorpio / Ox
Origin: Tehran, Tehran Province, Iran
Blood type: Private
Height: 193cm
Agency: Private
Occupation: Amateur wrestler / Professional wrestler / Mixed martial artist

2. Background

Elementary school: Private
Junior high: Private
High school: Private
University: Private

3. Relationships

Spouse: Private
Children: Private
Parents: Private
Siblings: Private

4. Personality

Motto

Private

6. Links

Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9E%E3%83%83%E3%83%88%E3%83%BB%E3%82%AC%E3%83%95%E3%82%A1%E3%83%AA

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