The 19-year-old became the first woman from her country to win an Olympic medal at Rio 2016 in August, when she captured bronze in the under-57 kilograms division.

Alizadeh stepped up to the under-63kg class for last month's World Taekwondo Championships in Muju in South Korea.

She won a silver medal, losing out in the final to Ivory Coast's Ruth Gbagbi.

However, the teenager is now suffering with a torn anterior cruciate ligament which required surgery.

According to the Tehran Times, she will be out of action "for at least one year".

The medal Alizadeh won in Muju was her second at World Championship level.

She also won bronze at under-57kg in Chelyabinsk in Russia in 2015. 

Her Olympic medal was widely reported due to its history-making nature.

"When I came here I wanted to break this enclosure, open the door, help other female athletes and also create a kind of self-confidence for people to go out there and do it," Alizadeh said after Rio 2016.

"Obviously, now my life is going to change in that I have to be a role model."