Thursday, Jul. 24, 2008
93. Ali Adnan
Archery
Iraq
Before the Iraqi delegation was barred from the Games due to political infighting, Ali Adnan, Iraq's first archer to qualify for Beijing, was safely training in South Korea after surviving months of training under dire circumstances of violence, sectarian strife and personal threats. Many of Iraq's athletes and sports officials have been assassinated. Adnan himself was the victim of an assault by Al Qaeda affiliated operatives in 2006. Since then he has found it too risky to go far from home so he has been training in his own small garden. Six other Iraqi athletes had qualified for the summer Olympics and The International Olympic Committee had covered all their training expenses in Turkey and South Korea.