Yazdani, 30, underwent a second surgery on his injured shoulder in September last year, before starting his rehabilitation program five months later in Tehran – in a bid for the elusive second Olympic gold medal in Los Angeles 2028.
A winner of a national-high 10 world and Olympic medals, Yazdani last appeared at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he settled for the freestyle 86kg silver after a 7-1 setback against Bulgarian Magomed Ramazanov.
Speaking about the latest update on Yazdani’s recovery on Friday, Dorostkar said: “His condition is improving as he has begun reviewing techniques and will certainly enter the national team selection cycle [for next year’s World Championships], but he won’t make it to the Islamic Solidarity Games.”
Asked whether Yazdani will compete in the 92kg class or the Olympic 97kg category on return to the mat, Dorostkar said: “It’s his decision to make, once he resumes full training.”
Yazdani had already been out of action for eight months before the Ranking Series event in June 2024 – due to a first surgery on his right shoulder – but recovered in time to secure his place in the national team for the Paris Games.
The Iranian showed no signs of an injury on his way to the final showpiece but the problem flared up against Ramazanov as he struggled with the dislocated shoulder from the get-go, calling for treatment on several occasions throughout the six minutes of action.
A gold medal in Paris would have seen Yazdani overtake taekwondo legend Hadi Saei as the most decorated Iranian in the history of the Olympic Games with two golds and one silver.
Iran Daily