Iraqi Woman Sprints to Olympics

With the Olympics set to start in less than five months, Iraq's lone female competitor has been training twice a day, six days a week on a track inside a Baghdad stadium that predates Saddam Hussein's regime. And as a result of all she's done to make it into the Olympics, once the opening ceremonies are over, her fellow competitors will surely seem small in comparison. Dana Abdul-Razzaq is the 21-year-old Iraqi record holder in the 200 meters, and in addition to that event, she will compete in the 100 meters as one of the five "wild card" entries given to Iraq by the International Olympic Committee, Reuters reported today. Her Olympic path has been anything but easy, as Abdul-Razzaq has not received any of the typical Olympic-athlete perks. She has no masseuse loosening her sore muscles, no dietitian making sure her energy levels never dip at the wrong time, and she pays her own money for access into a public Baghdad gym. But worse than all of the things she hasn't been given are the few things she has received. Like the bullets one sniper fired at her during a workout in central Baghdad. Initially, the young sprinter fainted after being shot at, but as a testament to her determination, just a half hour later she began running again. Certainly, a few fast women won't scare her.

--Jason Kerkmans