Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

competed in 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 ...

, held in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. As of late July, seven Iraqis—two rowers, a weightlifter, a sprinter, a discus thrower, a judoka and an archer—had qualified to compete in seven events in five sports at the Beijing Olympics, and twenty have qualified to take part in the Beijing Paralympics (see Iraq at the 2008 Summer Paralympics). On July 24, 2008, it was announced that Iraq would be banned from the 2008

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

. After five days of negotiations, the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

lifted the ban. Five of Iraq's seven athletes missed the deadlines for their competitions, though the men's rowing team was allowed to compete by the

International Rowing Federation World Rowing, also known as the World Rowing Federation (former abbreviation FISA; french: Fédération internationale des sociétés d'aviron), is the international governing body for rowing. Its current president is Jean-Christophe Rolland who ...

, after

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

declined the offer of places in rowing and they were re-allocated to Iraq. Thus, Iraq has four representatives: Haidar Nasir in the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disk (mathematics), disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an classical antiqui ...

, Dana Hussein in sprinting, and Haidar Nozad and Hamzah Hussein Jebur in men's double scull.

IOC ban

On July 24, the

announced that it was banning Iraq from the Olympics due to political influence within Iraq's national Olympic committee. The decision follows the Iraqi government's suspension of the

National Olympic Committee of Iraq The National Olympic Committee of Iraq (NOCI) ( ar, اللجنة الاولمبية الوطنية العراقية) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) for Iraq. It was established in 1948 and recognized by the International Olympic Committe ...

in May 2008, citing the lack of sufficient members for quorum and the consequent risk of corruption as concerns. The government appointed an acting panel led by Jasem Muhammad Jaafar, the Minister of Sports, in its place. The former chairman, Ahmad al-Samarra'i, the secretary-general and several other members of the committee have been missing after being kidnapped when attending a public meeting in July 2006. Seven members of Iraq's team had qualified for the Olympics, and received sympathy from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

after the ban was upheld. White House Press Secretary

Dana Perino Dana Marie Perino (born May 9, 1972) is an American political commentator and author who served as the 26th White House Press Secretary, under President George W. Bush from September 14, 2007, to January 20, 2009. She was the second female White ...

said, "I'm sure that the Iraqi athletes -- who have trained so hard, and were finally going to represent a country that is free, and sovereign, and working to establish its democracy -- they have to be terribly disappointed and I'm disappointed for the athletes as well." However, if the original committee were to be reinstated, Iraq's track and field team might still be able to compete. Iraq missed the July 23 entry deadlines for archery, judo, rowing and weightlifting, but the deadline for athletics is at the end of July. On July 29, the IOC reversed their previous decision, ruling that Iraq could now participate in the Olympics, but only the two track and field athletes would be allowed to compete, as the others missed the deadlines for their respective sports. However, the

allowed the qualified rowers to compete at the Games

Athletics

Iraq planned to send Dana Hussain, a sprinter who had qualified for the

100 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

and

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

. In the wake of the initial ban, despite being consoled by her coach, Abdul Rahman, who assured her that she could compete in the 2012 Olympics, Hussain noted "In this horrible situation, who can say I'll even be alive in 2012?" Dana Hussain is the only athlete on the 2008 Olympic team to train within the war-torn country. In the end she only ran the 100m. Haidar Nasir represented Iraq in the discus throw. ;Men ;Women

Rowing

Haider Nawzad and Hamza Hussein participated in the men's double sculls and finished last of all competitors. ;Men Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; QF=Quarterfinals; R=Repechage

Competitors unable to compete due to the missed deadline

Several athletes had qualified either regularly or as wildcards, but did not compete, due to Iraq having missed the entry deadlines for their events. The country had planned to send an

archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In mo ...

to the Olympics for the first time. The nation was awarded a spot in the men's individual competition via Tripartite Commission invitation; Ali Adnan would have become Iraq's first Olympic archer,FITA Olympic Qualification - Men
/ref> whereas Ali Mohamed Fakher was to participate as a wild card in the

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

competition. In addition to the NOC's suspension, weightlifter Mohammed Jassim was faced with a potential suspension from Olympic participation after news of his failure of a drug test at the Asian Weightlifting Championship were received.TVNZ, Iraqi weightlifter faces Beijing ban, June 7, 2008

References

External links

"Baghdad Outraged by Olympic Ban"
''Time'', July 25, 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Iraq At The 2008 Summer Olympics

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Nations at the 2008 Summer Olympics