An Iraqi sprinter whose coach had to bribe militiamen so she
could train. A Palestinian swimmer unable to use the
Olympic-size pool nearest her home. A pioneering runner from
war-wracked Afghanistan who placed last in the 100m.
No medals await athletes like these, from beleaguered nations
with scant sports resources. In some cases, their compatriots
back home received only sketchy accounts -- if any -- about
their performances.
Yet out of the spotlight, most of these long shots savor
their Olympic moments as gratefully as any champion.
"It has been my dream," said the Palestinian swimmer, Zakia
Nassar, after posting a 50m time nearly eight seconds off the
pace in the early heats. "It's fine to be here." She is one
of two women on the four-member Palestinian team, along with
sprinter Ghadir Ghurouf. Dubbed "The Gazelle of Jericho" by
Palestinian newspapers, Ghurouf finished 71st in the 100m
heats in 13.07, fast enough to set a Palestinian record.
Nassar, a 21-year-old dentistry student, is one of the few
women from her region ever to swim in the Olympics. She did
most of her training -- sporadically and without a coach --
in a 12m pool because she lacked a permit to reach the
nearest Olympic-size pool in Israel.
"It was really hard for me to train and to even get to the
Olympics," she said.
Four Afghan athletes also came to Beijing, representing a
country that has never won an Olympic medal and is sinking
ever deeper into war as the Taliban insurgency escalates.
Robina Muqimyar -- who in 2004 broke the gender barrier on
the Afghan Olympic team -- was last in a field of 85 in the
women's 100m in a time of 14.80, posted while running with a
scarf covering her head. Teammate Massoud Azizi finished 76th
in the men's 100.
Afghanistan was under high alert Monday for fear of attacks
coinciding with Independence Day, and the capital, Kabul, has
had limited electricity, so following the Olympics has been a
challenge even for those Afghans who care. Given the war,
lack of power and economic woes, many Afghans perceive the
Olympics as a distant spectacle for other nations to enjoy.
The Iraqi team almost didn't get to compete in Beijing
because of a dispute between the International Olympic
Committee and Iraqi Olympic officials -- an outcome that
would have been heartbreaking for sprinter Dana Hussein. She
had trained in donated track shoes; at one point a sniper in
Baghdad took a shot at her as she ran.
The dispute was resolved just in time to gain Olympic berths,
and Hussein set a personal best of 12.36sec in her 100m heat
-- 59th fastest in the field.
"It's not important to be the best," she said afterward.
"It's important to represent your heart."
