Raed Ahmed
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  Iraq |
| Born | 5 June 1967[1] |
| Weight | 98 kg (216 lb)[1] |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Weightlifting |
Raed Ahmed (born 5 June 1967) is an Iraqi weightlifter. He represented Iraq at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, where he was the flagbearer during the opening ceremony. Raed defected to the United States after his event was over.
Early life and career
[edit]Raed was born in Basra, Iraq.[2] He attended college and has a degree. He lived in southern Iraq prior to the Olympics.[3]
In 1984, Raed became the Iraqi champion of weightlifting in the 99kg weight class.[2] Uday Hussein, Saddam Hussein's oldest son, was appointed the chairman of the Iraqi Olympic Committee the same year.[4] Uday was known for torturing athletes after failure and Raed repeatedly attempted to lower his expectations, claiming with the help of physicians that he was injured.[5] While he had considered defection at the 1995 World Weightlifting Championships,[2] held in Guangzhou, China,[6] he thought he would be forcibly repatriated if he attempted to do so.[2]
1996 Olympics
[edit]
As the flagbearer for Iraq at the opening ceremony in Atlanta, Raed was forbidden from looking at U.S. President Bill Clinton[2] during the Parade of Nations on 19 July 1996.[7] He disobeyed these orders, noticing that Clinton was clapping for the Iraqi delegation; this made him finalise his decision to defect.[8][2] In his event, he finished in 23rd place,[8] third from the bottom.[2]
At the end of July,[α][β] Raed fled from the Olympic Village, which was located at Georgia Tech, while his minders were preparing for a visit to Zoo Atlanta.[9][10] He was the second member of an Olympic delegation to defect in a week.[8][11] Prior to his escape, he had arranged to meet a student at the university who had facilitated his getaway.[8] He was brought to Decatur and later met with agents from the Immigration and Naturalization Service to claim asylum.[9]
In a subsequent press conference, Raed stated that he would be executed if he returned to Iraq,[9] having been sentenced to death in absentia.[5] Raed was called a "candle burning for Iraq" by a Kuwaiti journalist recognizing his "act of sacrifice".[3] He said that if the asylum application were approved, he would continue weightlifting and bring his wife to the United States.[9]
Personal life
[edit]Raed's wife[γ] was evacuated from their house a day before his escape[3] to a "haven in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq".[8] Following his defection, his wife was ordered to divorce him,[5] his mother was fired and family was detained by the government[2] for two weeks[5] and were ostracised upon their release. Raed's wife left Iraq in 1998 and he visited the country in 2004 for the first time since his defection, following the fall of Saddam's government. As of 2021[update], he lives in Dearborn, Michigan, saying that "Dearborn is like Baghdad" due to the significant Iraqi population following the Iraq War. He has five children, having worked as a used car salesman and football and basketball coach.[2]
Notes
[edit]- ^ Sources disagree on which day Raed defected. Several contemporary sources published on 2 August 1996 (The Palm Beach Post and Chicago Tribune) state it was "Wednesday", which was 31 July.[9][8] The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, published the same day, variously states it was "[t]hree mornings ago", which was 30 July,[3] or "Wednesday".[10] A BBC source in 2021 states it was 28 July.[2]
- ^ Sources also disagree what time of day he defected. While The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and BBC states it was in the morning,[3][2] the Chicago Tribune states it was "a little after noon".[8]
- ^ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution states her name is Asra Ali Ahmed,[3] while The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier states it is Madiha Mohamad.[11]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Raed Ahmed Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wright, George (8 July 2021). "The daring escape sparked by one forbidden glance". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 8 July 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f Kindred, Dave (2 August 1996). "Defector rejecting Saddam, not Iraq". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on 1 October 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
- ^ Farrey, Tom (22 December 2002). "The horrors of Saddam's 'sadist' son". ESPN. Archived from the original on 5 August 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
- ^ a b c d Ahmed, Raed; Farrey, Tom (22 December 2002). "'The public cannot imagine how brutal these guys are'". ESPN. Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
- ^ "Events: World Championships". International Weightlifting Federation. Archived from the original on 5 September 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
- ^ "Back in the USA". The Arizona Republic and Phoenix Gazette. 20 July 1996. Archived from the original on 1 October 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g Franklin, Tim (2 August 1996). "Tyranny prompts defection". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 1 October 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
- ^ a b c d e "Iraqi says life rides on defection attempt". The Palm Beach Post. 2 August 1996. Archived from the original on 1 October 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
- ^ a b Towns, Hollis R. (2 August 1996). "Abandoning the flag – forever". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on 1 October 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
- ^ a b "Iraqi weightlifter sneaks to freedom". The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. Associated Press. 1 August 1996. Archived from the original on 1 October 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.