In 1948, Iran sent its first Olympic team to the London.

The nation's young Shah, who had set the country on a course of modernisation, saw the '48 games as an opportunity to reintroduce Iran to the world.

Weightlifter Ja'afar Salmassi, a teacher by profession, won Iran's first Olympic medal - a bronze in the featherweight class.

On Sunday, Samassi's athletic heirs - the men's 56kg weightlifters - compete in London for 2012 Olympic gold.

The BBC Persian Service's Khashayar Joneidi tells Salmassi's story.