No Iranian woman ever medaled in the Olympics before the Revolution. Women participated for the first time at the 1958 Tokyo Asian games in athletics. The women’s volleyball team won the first bronze medal at the 1966 Asian games in Bangkok. Iran’s best performance at the international level was at the 1974 Asian Games in Tehran. The fencing foil team won a gold medal and an individual silver and a bronze medal.
The sports programming for girls and women were minimal at best during the Pahlavi Era. The main objective of the women’s sports program was to convey an image of modernity. Schoolgirls wearing sexy miniskirts and shorts marched in official celebrations and government parades. They were also used to greet foreign dignitaries. The public relations arm of the government focused on showing the world the sexy silky smooth legs of Iranian women. Perhaps this wasn’t such a bad idea, in retrospect, because Iran is now perceived by the rest of the world as the most violent people on the planet.
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