Kurdistan PM receives bodybuilding champion from Duhok

Prime Minister Masrour Barzani (Right) meets with bodybuilding champion Haji Rikani in Erbil, Nov. 25, 2021. (Photo: KRG)
Prime Minister Masrour Barzani (Right) meets with bodybuilding champion Haji Rikani in Erbil, Nov. 25, 2021. (Photo: KRG)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Thursday welcomed a resident of Duhok province who, earlier this month, was crowned winner of his weight category in an international bodybuilding contest in the Lebanese capital of Beirut.

Haji Abdul Salam Rikani earned a gold medal in the Asia Championship 2021, organized by the International Federation of BodyBuilding and Fitness (IFBB) 

Read More: Bodybuilder from Duhok wins gold medal in Asian bodybuilding championship

The Prime Minister congratulated Rikani and "wished him lasting success, while at the same time, pledging ongoing support by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for its competitive athletes.

Rekani has been a bodybuilder for 13 years and has won several medals, in Iraq and other countries, which he has then presented to members of the Kurdish Peshmerga and their families.

He gave the gold medal he just won in Beirut, his most prestigious to date, to the orphaned son of a fallen Peshmerga fighter.

In the previous Asia Championship, Rekani came in third place. Afterward, he gave the medal to a Peshmerga fighter from Shiladiz who lost both legs in the war against ISIS.

He has previously said that he would present his next major award to Prime Minister Barzani.