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Kurdish lifter wins first Iraqi medal in
20 years
4.12.2006 |
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December 4, 2006
DOHA, Qatar: Harem Ali earned war-ravaged
Iraq a bronze medal on Monday, ending the country's
two-decade medal drought at the Asian Games.
Ali, a 21-year-old Kurd from the northern Kurdish
city of Sulaimaniyah in Kurdistan autonomous region
(Iraq), dedicated his medal in the 77-kilogram
weightlifting class to Iraq: "This medal is to all
Iraqis from the north to the south."
"I would like to send a message to all people in
Iraq that I am part of Iraq, even though I am from
Kurdistan. I want to make the Iraqi people happy - I
hope I will with this result," added Ali, speaking
in Kurdish.
His coach Khudayer Abbas Basha translated the
comments into Arabic for a swarm of more than two
dozen journalists.
"With this medal we hope to dry the tears of the
Iraqi people and make them smile after a lot of
suffering," said Basha. "We thank God for this medal
and we hope that it can place a smile on the faces
of Iraqis."
China's Li Hongli won the gold medal while South
Korea's Lee Jeong-jae took silver on a countback
from Ali. The pair lifted the same total weight, but
Lee had the lighter bodyweight.
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Harem Ali from Kurdistan region (Iraq) lifts 155 kg
in snatch of the Asian Games weightlifting men's 77
kg category in Doha, Qatar, Monday Dec. 4, 2006. Ali
won the bronze medal in the event. AP |
Ali has had to move his training base to southern
Iraq because of the escalating security problem in
Baghdad. The head of the Iraqi team in Doha, Tiras
Anwaya, told The Associated Press that Ali and
another weightlifter would likely train abroad until
the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
"We have very difficult training conditions because
we don't have the equipment, and because it is not
safe we have had to move our training base," Ali
said.
Added Basha: "The circumstances of war makes things
difficult for us, especially since our weightlifting
facilities are located in Baghdad. We've been
training in the south because it's safer."
Since the March 2003 U.S. invasion, tens of
thousands of Iraqis have died, law and order has
been in freefall and bombings since the spring set
of waves of sectarian revenge killings leave scores
dead every day.
Sports officials and athletes are not immune to the
violence, often becoming targets of kidnapping and
assassination attempts.
The bullet-ridden body of the Sunni Arab chairman of
one of Iraq's leading soccer clubs was found Sunday,
nearly three days after he was kidnapped by gunmen
in the capital.
In July, Iraq's national soccer coach, Akram Ahmed
Salman, resigned after receiving death threats
against him and his family.
That came shortly after gunmen kidnapped Ahmed al-Hijiya,
the chairman of Iraq's National Olympic Committee,
and at least 30 other officials, including the
presidents of the taekwondo and boxing federations,
in a bold daylight raid on a sports conference in
the heart of Baghdad.
During a trip to Doha on the weekend, International
Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge appealed
for the release of al-Hijiya and his 30 colleagues.
Iraq's last medals at the quadrennial Asian Games
were in 1986 at Seoul, South Korea, where it won
five silver and two bronze medals.
AP
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