Hamzah Hussein Jebur Al-Hilfi (born 1976) is an Iraqi rower. He and his rowing partner

Haider Nawzad Haider Nawzad (alternate names: Haydar Nozad, Haidar Hama Rashid) (born 20 April 1983) is an Iraqi rower. He was born in Baghdad to Kurdish parents. He is fluent in Kurdish, Arabic, English, and Swedish. He and his rowing partner, Hamza ...

qualified for the men's double sculls event at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

in Beijing through a Tripartite Commission invitation. They were last-minute qualifiers for the Beijing Games, obtaining a place when North Korea declined an invitation to send rowers, and the invitation was reallocated to Iraq. They are two of only four competitors on the 2008 Iraqi Olympic team. Hussein and Nawzad train on the Tigris river in central Baghdad. Hussein competed in the men's four at the 2010 Asian Games. Before the Games he and other members of the Iraqi rowing squad spent a month preparing in the U.S. where they trained with the U.S. squad and competed in the prestigious Head of the Charles regatta. Hussein and his rowing partner Nawzad are being tracked in the run up to London 2012 for the BBC's "World Olympic Dreams".

References

1976 births Living people Iraqi male rowers Rowers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic rowers for Iraq Rowers at the 2006 Asian Games Rowers at the 2010 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for Iraq {{Iraq-rowing-bio-stub