Iranian cyclist dies after crash

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Iranian cyclist Sarafraz Bahman Golbarnezhad has died after crashing at the Paralympics on Saturday.

“With immense regret we have to say Sarafraz Bahman Golbarnezhad…has died after an accident while racing,” Iran’s Paralympic Committee said in a statement.

The 48-year-old fell from his bike in the C4-5 event in Rio. He received emergency treatment at the roadside and was taken to hospital where he later died.

Golbarnezhad was an experienced Paralympian competing on a route that included the Gruman circuit used in last month’s Olympic road races.

“He was an exemplary Paralympic sportsman who, with love and energy, tried his best to promote the name of Iran and to make all of us proud and at the end he gave his life for this,” the Paralympic Committee added.

“All members of the Iranian cultural and sports camp here express condolences to his family and the Iranian nation. The name of Bahman Golbarnezhad will be inscribed in the proud history of Iranian Paralympics.”

(Reporting by Neil Robinson; Editing by Tony Jimenez)