Amin Nikfar

In his first season as Stanford's throws coach, two-time Olympian Amin Nikfar helped Lena Giger to a narrow runner-up shot put finish at the 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships with a school-record performance.

On her final put, Giger unleashed a throw of 58-8 ½ (17.89 meters) to take the lead and break her own Stanford record, only to be overtaken by two centimeters on the competition's final throw.

Nikfar, a 2006 Cal graduate and shot put competitor for Iran, coached throws and the high jump at Southeastern Louisiana and served as the associate head coach before coming to Stanford in the summer of 2018.

Nikfar coached Alex Young to the U.S. hammer and weight throw titles and an NCAA weight throw championship in 2017. Young was an IAAF World Championships qualifier and NCAA hammer runner-up. Nikfar’s athletes at Southeastern Louisiana earned four All-America honors. He coached 11 NCAA East Prelims qualifiers, nine Southland Conference champions and 15 conference podium finishers.

Nikfar competed in the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Games and in two IAAF World Championships. He was a nine-time Iranian champion and broke national records six times. He was the 2004 Asian indoor champion, still ranks No. 6 on Cal’s all-time list in the shot at 61-11 from 2004. His lifetime best of 65-9 ½ (20.05 meters) from 2011 remains an Iranian record.  

Nikfar was born in San Jose, grew up in Santa Clara, and was a two-time state shot put qualifier at Wilcox High School, where his coach was Mike Buncic, a two-time Olympian who holds the Cobb Track and Angell Field discus record (226-3, 68.98m).

Nikfar coached throws in 2014 at St. Francis High in Mountain View and went on to coach throws, jumps, and multis for two seasons at University of New Orleans, where his athletes combined for nine school records and a Southland Conference championship.