Hadi Saei

Hadi Saei Bonehkohal (born 1976) is an Iranian taekwondo competitor who became the most decorated Olympic athlete in his country's history through three medals over three Games. Born in Tehran on 10 June 1976, he began training in taekwondo as a child in the city's clubs and joined the Iranian national team while still a teenager, competing in continental tournaments through the late 1990s.

At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, contesting the under-68 kilogram division in the sport's debut as a full Olympic event, he won the bronze medal. Four years later in Athens he took the gold in the under-68 kilogram class with a final victory over Huang Chih-hsiung of Taiwan, then repeated the feat at Beijing in 2008 in the under-80 kilogram division, defeating Mauro Sarmiento of Italy in a tightly contested final.

Across the same period he gathered three world championship gold medals, in 2001, 2003, and 2007, and four Asian Games titles between 1998 and 2006, becoming the standard against whom subsequent Iranian fighters in the sport were measured. He was the flagbearer for Iran at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Games.

He retired from competitive taekwondo soon after the 2008 Olympics and moved into administration and coaching, serving on the executive of the Iran Taekwondo Federation, leading national teams at international events, and running the Hadi Saei Sports Complex in Tehran. He has been a vocal advocate for athlete welfare and youth participation in Iranian sport.

The given name Hadi is an Arabic name from the root h-d-y, to guide, meaning "guide" or "leader." He has carried it through a career at the front of his sport.