Gholamreza Takhti: Olympic Gold-Medalist wrestler

Takhti was born on August 27, 1930, to a pious Muslim family in Khani Abad, a poor neighborhood on the southern edge of Tehran. Years later, he would frequently go to Mashhad in northeast Iran and visit the shrine of Imam Reza, Shiites' Eighth Imam. He always professed his love and respect for Imam Ali, the First Imam and cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad.