BBC World Service is to launch Legend of Takhti in English and Persian in new seasons of Amazing Sport Stories and Mostanad.
BBC World Service English and BBC News Persian are collaborating on the podcasts to tell the story of Iran’s iconic wrestler Gholamreza Takhti whose sudden death in 1968 shook the nation.
This is a personal journey for presenter Rana Rahimpour, who tells the story of the athlete who was the first Iranian wrestler to win a medal at an international competition. He was also an Olympic and world champion seen as an embodiment of the spirit of Iran.
He was well loved, even by those who fought against him. Then, in January 1968, Takhti was found dead in a Tehran hotel room.
Rahimpour looks into the complicated relationship between Iran and its heroes and explores the way that legends, myths and rumours can eclipse the personalities at the heart of a story.
Looking at how she feels connected to Takhti’s story, Rahimpour says: “There was this man I felt I knew all my life, yet I realised I knew so little about him. I felt an urge to uncover the truth and answer the question: who was Gholamreza Takhti?”
Takhti is still thought of as both a strongman and a gentle, charitable figure. Sport, politics, and power are at the heart what it means to be a nation’s hero and why Takhti continues to inspire Iranians today. Whatever the truth, it seems that everyone has their own version of him.
For UK audiences, Amazing Sport Stories: Legend of Takhti will be available a week early on BBC Sounds from Monday 19 August, and from Monday 26 August on most other podcast platforms.
There will be three episodes, released weekly. The series will air weekly on BBC World Service radio from Saturday 5 October.
