Alaa Hikmat Jassim Al-Qaysi, born September 14, 1985, is an

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

i sprinter. Alaa represented Iraq in the 100 metre sprint at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. She finished last of eight in her heat, with a time of 12.70 seconds., ''Mail & Guardian'', August 20, 2004 She told reporters: :''"I feel I am representing all of the Iraqi people, not just the women. I started training for these Olympics in March, but because of the situation there, I couldn't train as well as I wanted to. If it was possible, I would have trained five to six times a week, but because of the bombs and explosions I often could not."''"From behind the veil"
''Sydney Morning Herald'', August 21, 2004 Alaa lives in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

References

See also