“The first time I attended the Asian Games in New Delhi in 1951 the level of diving in Iran was very high and I achieved two medals,” said an Iranian professional diver who made headlines back in the 1950s and 60s. In 1951, Taghi Asgari first clinched his silver and Bronze medals at the inaugural Asian Games, in New Delhi. After seventy-three years, Askari’s love and passion for diving took him to the springboard once again.

At the recently held World Aquatic Championships commended in Doha, Asgari stole the limelight from all other contenders. What made Askari so special at the event was his dedication to diving. Interestingly, at the age of 100 years, Iran’s professional diver proved that “age is not a barrier” as he performed a remarkable dive on Saturday.

The aquatics world honors the sporting spirit of centenarian

To share Taghi Askari’s World Aquatic Championship triumph at the age of 100 years, the NBC Olympics and Paralympics took it to their Twitter account and posted a couple of pictures of him. Along with the pictures, they penned, “Even at 100 years old, you can still pursue your dreams. Iran’s Taghi Asgari competed at the first Asian Games in 1951 and he performed an exhibition dive at this year’s World Aquatics Championships.” 

Hailing from the slopes of Alborz in Shemiran, Tehran, Asgari left everyone with a smile after an awe-inspiring performance. As the oldest competitor at the championships, he performed an exhibition dive before the Women’s 3m Springboard final at the Hamad Aquatic Centre before the commencement of the event.

After this, Askari was browned as a special ambassador of the global swimming body for his 1-meter dive at the world championships in Doha. Asgari found it difficult to clutch his emotions and turned teary-eyed as he was honored with a gold medal after his feat. His emotion was understandable as a gold medal is something so valuable to him just like any other athlete. And he made no bones about it.

Referring to his last competitive appearance, Asgari told, “When I was competing at a national level the last championships I did was when I was 41 years old…I achieved a gold medal at the national level, and after that, I said goodbye to the sport, but at least with a gold medal.” But what made Asgari think about diving at 100 years of age?

True dedication toward diving

The force that keeps Askari going is his love for the sport. In an exclusive interview with World Aquatics, he said, “For me, I have had a love of diving since I was a teenager until today. I have always loved diving. Nothing has changed between 1951 and now, except my performance!” However, the sport has seen tremendous growth over the years.

When he participated in the first Asian Games, only 489 athletes competed in 6 different sports. In the 2022 edition of the games, 11,935 athletes competed at events across 40 different disciplines. But the veteran has his advice for the youngsters trying to make their marks in such a tremendous competitive environment. 

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When asked for advice for championships at Singapore 2025, he said, “The only thing I want to tell you is about loving this sport and to keep yourself healthy. This can be a good motivation for you to attend these championships and different championships.” It seems that beyond everything else, it is the simple outlook of Asgari that enabled him to overcome the astonishing age bar. 

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