Does anyone have a touching story about an Iraqi Olympic athlete?

The 21-year-old Iraqi female sprinter Dana Abdul-Razzak recently won the Olympic "wild card" and "qualified" early. She is expected to become the only Iraqi female athlete to participate in the Beijing Olympics. .

Since he started sprint training 6 years ago, Abdul Razak has experienced life and death tests twice. In November last year, a sniper shot her while she was preparing for the Pan-Arab Games at the Jadriya Stadium in central Baghdad. "She crouched down and dodged the bullet, which hit the tree," recalled Abdel-Razzak's coach, Youssef Abdel-Rahman. She said that after dodging the bullet, she fainted on the spot.

However, she stepped up her preparations and returned to the stadium half an hour later, changing positions to continue training.

On another occasion, the master and apprentice were attacked by armed men while driving home after training. "The coach told me to lie down and he drove the car very fast," Abdul-Razzak said. "I was crying the whole time, but I survived."

Abdul-Razzak - Razak also has to face threats from militants and pressure from public opinion. The Iraqi Olympic Committee said in 2007 that since 2003, 104 Iraqi athletes, coaches and referees have been killed, and 22 Olympic Committee officials have disappeared.

In order to realize his dream, Abdul Razak did not back down and broke the domestic record for the 200-meter women's sprint at the 2007 Pan-Arab Games with a time of 24.8 seconds and finished fourth in the competition. name.

Abdel-Razzak’s efforts have been recognized by the Iraqi Olympic Committee. She received one of the five "wild cards" issued to Iraq by the International Olympic Committee and was able to directly participate in the Beijing Olympics. "I'm so happy," she said, that the Olympic ticket was the culmination of all that hard work.

That day I watched two Iraqi athletes participate in a canoeing competition. They didn’t even have uniforms for the competition, they were wearing their own old T-shirts. They also don’t have their own kayaks, which are sponsored by China. It is said that China later sponsored competition uniforms for all Iraqi players. Although they were in last place, they still rowed hard when everyone else had reached the finish line. They were very tenacious. The Chinese audience next to them also applauded them vigorously. I felt quite uncomfortable. . . . I remember that during the Asian Cup football match, it was also very difficult for the Iraqi team, which came from a land of war. Other teams went shopping. They had no money and could only hide in the hotel. I heard that they were reluctant to throw away the unfinished mineral water and had to take it back and finish it. However, the Iraqi team, which did not have a home court, soon found that Chengdu became their home court. The Iraqi flags were tumbling across the field, and the cheers from the Chengdu audience were deafening, moving the Iraqi players to tears.

Pure white background and large black characters circle the venue. The main body is the Chinese character "Thank you Chengdu" written by four children like they are learning calligraphy. The signature is "IRAQ" in English. This was the first gift the Iraqi team gave to the Chengdu fans after yesterday's game. During the 10 days in Chengdu, Chengdu fans gave the Iraqi team the same treatment as home court. When the final whistle sounded by South Korean referee Kong Jin-soo, the audience began to rejoice. The Iraqi team members hugged each other tightly. The fans in the audience witnessed this joy with applause and drums. Two Iraqi team members ran excitedly into the field. As they ran, they unfurled the white banner they had prepared and trotted around the field, arousing even more enthusiastic applause wherever they went.

In order to prepare this banner to thank the Chinese fans in advance, the Iraqis consulted the hotel waiter before the game and wrote it on the banner by hand. Although the writing is not neat, it reflects the aspirations of the Iraqi team. Before the game, the Iraqi team also decided: Regardless of whether they can advance to the quarterfinals as they wish, they will present this carefully prepared gift to the Chinese fans after the curtain call in Chengdu.

The Iraqi team has become the target of support from fans since the first day it arrived in Chengdu. The drumming band of Chinese fans in the stands even went through many twists and turns to find a tape of Iraqi music and learned to play from the tape. In Chengdu, fans of the Iraqi team filled the streets. Although the training is not open to Chinese fans, there is a children's taekwondo class next to the football field at the Qingyang District Sports Center in Chengdu, and the students in the class occupy the terrace near the water. After a training session for the Iraqi team, the children wearing taekwondo training uniforms all applauded them. Facing the eyes of the children, despite the language barrier, the friendly and warm scene still moved the Iraqis very much.

The team members went shopping in Chengdu three or four times, and they went to Chunxi Road, the most prosperous shopping pedestrian street in Chengdu. As soon as they see "IRAQ" on their jerseys, people will come up to them to sign autographs. "There are boys, girls, and middle-aged people. They will always talk in a low voice, and then work up the courage to come up and ask for autographs." Liaison officer of the Iraqi team Xiao Zhou told reporters. "I really didn't expect that in this strange city of China, we would get such support and love." Nasat Ali, the best player of the game and No. 19 of the Iraqi team, was interviewed in the mixed zone, his eyes There is also gratitude and excitement. "Although I don't understand what everyone is saying, I know this is the best support for us."

The Iraqis want to thank Chengdu because the Chengdu fans gave them overwhelming love; Chengdu wants to thank Iraq people, because the poor and weak Iraqis dedicated a soul-stirring spiritual feast to them. After defeating the Saudi team in the final match of the group, the Iraqis ran to the auditorium holding a homemade banner saying "Thank you Chengdu", and all the fans sang in unison to the music of "Auld Lang Syne". This scene made my eyes a little moist. In fact, from the moment the Iraqis arrived in Chengdu, the Iraqis attracted everyone's attention: because they came from a turbulent place; because they could not find a "calm" home ground. Because of sympathy, love arises. This is true for Chengdu fans, including us and the reporters covering the Asian Cup. Against Turkmenistan, when the Iraqis smashed the ball into the opponent's goal with a header at the last moment, the whole audience burst into cheers. At that moment, I felt as if the ball had hit my heart. Compared with the rich Saudi team, the Iraqis are too poor to use the hotel phone to call their families to tell them that they are safe, but they are the "richest" people in this group because they have the love of a city. This love, as long as they You can feel it if you listen to the sound of "Rising" live and look at the Iraqi flags flying in the audience. There is no Chinese team in Chengdu, but I have no regrets.

Do you still remember the unforgettable scene in Chengdu Sports Center four years ago? After the third group match of the Chengdu Division of the 2004 Asian Cup, the Iraqi team displayed a large slogan "Thank you Chengdu" at the scene. In the words of the Iraqi team coach Adnan, it was from their heart. grateful.

I made a special trip from Beijing to Damascus to watch a warm-up match between the Iraqi team and the Syrian team. I met many familiar players and coaches. These Iraqi soldiers took the initiative to ask me about what happened in Sichuan. Major earthquake situation. They told reporters that they learned about the major earthquake in China through TV and newspapers, but some team members did not know that the earthquake occurred in the Chengdu division where they participated in the Asian Cup. When reporters told people like No. 10 forward Younis, No. 5 midfielder Nashat Akram, head coach Adnan, etc. that Chengdu was also one of the affected areas, they all felt unbelievable, "Participating in that Asian Cup." Basically, most of our players are still in the national team. It can be said that most of our players on the Iraqi team experienced that trip to Chengdu and felt the friendship of the people of Sichuan and Chengdu, which made us spend a while there. It was a very wonderful and unforgettable period. The people there were so friendly that such a big earthquake made me feel unfair to God!" Head coach Adnan told reporters. Iraqi coach: Allah is not fair!

Not knowing Chinese, the Iraqi players typed out on the computer: God bless Chengdu/Sichuan, and cannot forget the friendship between China. It was really sad after watching it, and there were tears around my eyes. It deserves war. . . . .

All Iraqi athletes participating (due to the delay in registration, two athletes can only serve as substitutes. They can only participate if other athletes withdraw from the competition for other reasons.)

In the Beijing Olympics, you can see a kind of hard work in countless athletes. No matter what difficulties they encounter, they persist. The experience of the Iraqi Olympic delegation regaining their qualifications fully reflects their desire to participate in the Olympics.

There is a warm-up venue for track and field competitions on the north side of the Bird's Nest. During the competition, after the athletes have warmed up here, they can directly walk into the Bird's Nest through the underground passage to start the competition. Iraqi athlete Dana Hussein trains here every day.

Talking about his love for sports, Dana Hussain said: "I have liked running since I was a child. Every time my mother asked me to go shopping, I would run. I always They all like running, and I have always wanted to have a good pair of sneakers.” However, in Iraq, which is still in the midst of war, being an athlete has to overcome greater difficulties than ordinary people: “In the training ground in Baghdad, they shot at me. , and there was an explosion," she said helplessly.

In addition to the war, Iraqi athletes also face material shortages. For sprinters, the most important tool is running shoes. However, the quality of running shoes produced in Iraq cannot be guaranteed, and glue and threads are often opened. One time, Dana saw a pair of good running shoes at a flea market and bought them. This pair of running shoes has been with her for several years. During the Beijing Olympics, this pair of shoes accompanied her to Beijing. On July 24, Dana heard the news that the Iraqi team was disqualified from participating in the competition by the International Olympic Committee, and she felt extremely sad.

Fortunately, after experiencing some twists and turns, Hussein cherishes participating in the Olympic Games even more. Dana said that no matter what the result is, she will probably be in tears after the game.