“The prime minister specifically congratulated Najla Imad for winning the gold medal in table tennis. He also congratulated the fencing team members Ammar Hadi, Zain Al-Abideen Gilan, and Haider Ali for winning the silver medal, as well as Garrah Nassar for claiming the bronze medal in shot put, and Wuldan Nizar for his bronze medal in javelin throw,” said a statement from Sudani’s office.
Imad, a 19-year-old table tennis player, defeated her Ukrainian opponent Maryna Lytovchenko 3-1 in the final of the women’s class six event. Her opponent won the gold medal in the 2020 Tokyo Games and is the world’s highest-ranked para table tennis player in the class.
She had lost most of her right leg, her left leg at the knee, and her right forearm at just three years old when a sticky bomb ripped through her father’s car in Diyala, northeast Iraq in 2008.
Sudani also “praised these accomplishments, commending the efforts of the coaching staff and the Paralympic Committee for achieving these significant results that brought honor to Iraq in this international sporting event,” the statement said, and he described the Iraqi athletes’ victories as a “major sports milestone.”
Imad’s victory marks Iraq’s first gold medal in the 2024 Paris Paralympics and the third overall in the country’s history.
A total of 20 athletes represented Iraq in 10 different sports at the 2024 games. In addition to Imad’s gold, Iraqi athletes brought home two bronze medals - one in athletics and another in powerlifting.
