The people of Shiraz welcomed Hadi Choopan at the airport

With such a weight, few people expected him to succeed in international competitions. "The more they told me to quit, the more determined I became. I didn't have any sponsors, I sold my own car… to pay for my living and training," he said in 2019.

After he won the gold medal at the 2013Men’s World Amateur Bodybuilding Championships in Morocco, the profession knew him by the nickname "Iranian Wolf". "No one gave me this nickname. In fact, I chose it for myself because I wanted to never be subject to any problem under any circumstances. In my opinion, an Iranian or Persian wolf is an indomitable warrior,” he has said in an interview.