Haider Nawzad
Encyclopedia
Haider Nawzad (born April 20, 1983) is an Iraq
i rower
. He was born in Baghdad
to Kurdish
parents. He is fluent in Kurdish
, Arabic, English
and Swedish
. Nawzad is good friends with German-Palestinian rower Paula El-Qalqili.
He and his rowing partner, Hamza Hussein
, qualified for the men's double sculls event at the 2008 Summer Olympics
in Beijing
through a Tripartite Commission invitation. They were last-minute qualifiers for the Beijing Games, obtaining a place when North Korea
declined an invitation to send rowers, and the invitation was reallocated to Iraq. They are two of only four competitors on the 2008 Iraqi Olympic team
. Nawzad and Hussein train on the Tigris
river in central Baghdad
. Nawzad was living in Sweden
, but returned to Iraq to train for the Olympics.
Haider won Iraq's first medal of the 2010 Asian Games, finishing third in the men's single skulls. After this victory Adel Ali, Secretary General of Iraq's National Olympic Committee announced that his organisation was committed to providing better funding for sport in Iraq.
Before the Asian Games, Haider and other members of the Iraqi squad spent a month preparing in the United States training with members of the U.S rowing team and competing in the prestigious Head of the Charles regatta.
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i rower
Rowing (sport)
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
. He was born in Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
to Kurdish
Kurdish people
The Kurdish people, or Kurds , are an Iranian people native to the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey...
parents. He is fluent in Kurdish
Kurdish language
Kurdish is a dialect continuum spoken by the Kurds in western Asia. It is part of the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian group of Indo-European languages....
, Arabic, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
. Nawzad is good friends with German-Palestinian rower Paula El-Qalqili.
He and his rowing partner, Hamza Hussein
Hamza Hussein
Hamzah Hussein Jebur is an Iraqi rower. He and his rowing partner Haider Nawzad qualified for the men's double sculls event at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing through a Tripartite Commission invitation. They were last-minute qualifiers for the Beijing Games, obtaining a place when North Korea...
, qualified for the men's double sculls event at the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
through a Tripartite Commission invitation. They were last-minute qualifiers for the Beijing Games, obtaining a place when North Korea
North Korea at the 2008 Summer Olympics
North Korea competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing, People's Republic of China from August 8 to August 24, 2008. The country sent 63 athletes, competing in 11 sports....
declined an invitation to send rowers, and the invitation was reallocated to Iraq. They are two of only four competitors on the 2008 Iraqi Olympic team
Iraq at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Iraq competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. As of late July, seven Iraqis—two rowers, a weightlifter, a sprinter, a discus thrower, a judoka and an archer—had qualified to compete in seven events in five sports at the Beijing Olympics, and...
. Nawzad and Hussein train on the Tigris
Tigris
The Tigris River is the eastern member of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of southeastern Turkey through Iraq.-Geography:...
river in central Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
. Nawzad was living in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, but returned to Iraq to train for the Olympics.
Haider won Iraq's first medal of the 2010 Asian Games, finishing third in the men's single skulls. After this victory Adel Ali, Secretary General of Iraq's National Olympic Committee announced that his organisation was committed to providing better funding for sport in Iraq.
Before the Asian Games, Haider and other members of the Iraqi squad spent a month preparing in the United States training with members of the U.S rowing team and competing in the prestigious Head of the Charles regatta.