ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Amal Khidir, a Kurdish woman from Iraqi-controlled Kirkuk city, won the 10-km Erbil International Marathon on Friday where nearly 1,700 people took part. A displaced Arab from the Sunni city of Rumadi won the first place for boys, too.
The Iraqi forces lowered the Kurdish flag in her city when they drove out the Peshmerga forces last week.
Waving the Kurdish flag, she told Rudaw that she wants all Kurdish athletes to raise the flag high wherever they go.
“I raise the flag of Kurdistan. I present it to Kirkuk city where they put the flag of [Kurdistan] in Kirkuk under their vehicles. We were very unhappy because of that. But we hope that the runners will raise the flag of Kurdistan everywhere in the world.”
Khidir said that she has participated in the event every year. This year, since the one-hour drive road between Kirkuk and Erbil is blocked, it took her more than two hours, taking the Sulaimani-Erbil road.
She explained that her love for Kirkuk and sports pushed her to attend the event despite the crisis in Kirkuk. She hope for a similar event to be held there.
It was the sixth of the international event in the Kurdish capital, but participation has decreased by more than half because of an existing Iraqi-imposed flight ban on international flights to-and-from the Kurdistan Region since late September, and the tensions between the Iraqi and Kurdish forces following 10-days of fighting.
Mohammed Abdullah, from the capital city of Anbar province, won the first prize for the 10-km marathon for boys.
There was also a 5-km marathon for all genders and people of various ages. Rawand Ahmad, native of Sulaimani, and Krekar Abdullah from Soran, won first and second place, respectively.
Michel Mollis, from Zimbabwe, won the second place for women in the 10-km marathon.
Representatives from the foreign mission in Erbil, including from the United States and Germany also took part.
Paryan, a Kurdish woman from Erbil, told Rudaw that she wanted to send a message to the outside worked by taking part in the event.
“I took part in this event so that I will convey the message from Erbil and the entire Kurdistan, to tell the Unites States, and all those who want to attack our flag: We all will die for this flag," she said.