By winning the women’s recurve open, the Iranian secured her third consecutive Paralympic title. She did so in a nail-biting shoot-off with Italy’s Vincenza Petrilli, hitting a 10 with her last arrow to win the title.
South Africa’s Margaret Harriman was the only other Para archer to win gold at consecutive Paralympic gold medals, doing so in at the 1960, 1964, 1968 and 1972 Paralympic Games.
The achievement not only speaks of Nemati’s excellence in the sport overtime, but also what it means around the world. She first shot into the global radar by becoming the first woman from Iran to win a gold medal at either the Olympic or Paralympic Games back in 2012, and has used her platform to speak up about women in sports and disability.
Now she has another platform – being voted one of six on the IPC Athletes’ Council during Tokyo 2020 – to make an impact beyond archery.