Iraq competed at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's fourteenth appearance at the Summer Olympic Games since its debut in

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

. The National Olympic Committee of Iraq selected a team of 23 male athletes to compete in six sports at the Games, with the men's football squad staging its Olympic comeback for the first time since

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

Waheed Abdul-Ridha Waheed Abdul-Ridha Waheed Karaawi (born May 22, 1983) is an Iraqi boxer. He competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the men's middleweight event, in which he was eliminated in the round of 32 by Misael Rodríguez Misael Uziel Rodríguez Oliva ...

, Iraq's highest-ranked boxer and world no. 31 in the middleweight division, led the Iraqi team as the nation's flag bearer in the opening ceremony. Iraq, however, failed to win its first Olympic medal, since the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

in Rome, where Abdul Wahid Aziz took the bronze in men's weightlifting.

Boxing

Iraq has entered one boxer to compete in the men's light welterweight division into the Olympic boxing tournament. Waheed Abdul-Ridha had claimed an Olympic spot with a quarterfinal victory at the 2016 AIBA World Qualifying Tournament in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

, Azerbaijan.

Football

;Summary

Men's tournament

Iraq men's football team qualified for the Olympics with a remarkable victory over the host nation Qatar in the

2016 AFC U-23 Championship The 2016 AFC U-23 Championship (also known as the 2016 AFC U-23 Asian Cup) was the second edition of the AFC U-23 Championship, the biennial international age-restricted football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) fo ...

bronze medal play-off, signifying the nation's Olympic comeback to the sport for the first time since

. ;Team roster ;Group play ---- ----

Judo

Iraq has qualified one judoka for the men's half-middleweight category (81 kg) at the Games, signifying the nation's Olympic return to the sport for the first time since

. Hussein Al-Aameri earned a continental quota spot from the Asian region as the highest-ranked Iraqi judoka outside of direct qualifying position in the IJF World Ranking List of May 30, 2016.

Rowing

Iraq has qualified one boat in the men's single sculls for the Olympics at the 2016 Asia & Oceania Continental Qualification Regatta in

Chungju Chungju (충주시) is a city in North Chungcheong province, South Korea. Uamsan is a mountain located within the outskirts of the city. The city is famous for the annual martial arts festival held in October. Also of note, former UN Secretary-G ...

, South Korea. 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

Weightlifting

Iraq has qualified one male weightlifter for the Rio Olympics by virtue of a top seven national finish at the 2016 Asian Championships. Meanwhile, an unused women's Olympic spot was added to the Iraqi weightlifting team by IWF, as a response to the vacancy of women's quota places in the individual World Rankings and to the "multiple positive cases" of doping on several nations. The National Olympic Committee of Iraq, however, chose to keep the women's place vacant, allowing the deadline of allocation to pass without selecting a female weightlifter. The team must allocate these places to individual athletes by June 20, 2016.

References

External links

* {{Country at games navbox, Iraq, Summer Olympics

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 ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Nations at the 2016 Summer Olympics