Iran's Hossein Lotfi Follows Hadi Saei’s Footsteps

Nicknamed ‘The Grasshopper’ because of his long reach with his front leg, Hossein won gold in the male -45kg category at the World Junior Championships this week in Tunisia in impressive fashion.

“I was confident in myself,” he told worldtaekwondo.org. “I came to perform to the best of my abilities. I feel quite excellent. It is a reward for all the hard work that I have put into this.”

But, he is not ready to rest on his laurels and is already focusing on improving and reaching new heights.

“All that is in my mind right now is just to train and work harder. In the long term it is a dream to join the senior team for 2020 Olympics. I know that I need to gain bodily strength and become stronger in order to properly compete at senior level.”

One of his heroes is two-time Olympic champion, Hadi Saei.

“It is quite a challenge to pick one in Iran because we have a lot of taekwondo heroes in the country. However, personally I would have to say Hadi Saei. I know all of his fights by heart! I especially love the video in the 2004 Olympic final where he won gold with three seconds to spare.”