Four-month program may allow athletes to compete in Athens

The U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) and the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) announced that they will coordinate a training program with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for four Iraqi wrestlers and two coaches between February and June 2004.

According to a February 4 State Department media note, the training program will help the athletes in their quest to participate in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

The note said the wrestling program comes one year after the USOC, ECA and IOC coordinated a similar program for the Iraqi archery team that allowed Iraqi archers to participate in the World Archery Championships held in New York.

Following is the text of the media note:

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
For Immediate Release
February 4, 2004
2004/126
Media Note

U.S. Department of State and the USOC to host Iraqi Wrestlers

The U.S. Olympic Committee and the U.S. Department of State today announced that they will be partnering with the International Olympic Committee to host and train Iraqi wrestlers in their pursuit of participating in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

Working with the IOC's Solidarity Department, the USOC and the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs will be coordinating an extended training program for four Iraqi wrestlers and two coaches beginning in February and continuing on through June of 2004 at the USOC's Colorado Springs Training Center. Working in cooperation with USA Wrestling, the USOC will be hosting two freestyle wrestlers and a coach along with two Greco-Roman wrestlers and a coach.

The wrestling program will be the second exchange that the USOC, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and IOC Solidarity have worked together on. They supported a similar program last year for the Iraqi archery team that participated in the World Archery Championships held in New York.

"As the newly elected president of the Iraqi Olympic committee, I am deeply grateful that the US State Department and the USOC have generously supported the rebuilding of Iraq athletes, the offer to support the training of an Iraqi team will go a long way towards restarting the competitors of our programs to returning pride to the Iraqi people." states Ahmed Al Samarrai Chairman of the Iraqi Olympic Committee.

The relationship between the USOC and Iraqi sport emanated from a June, 2003 summit in Kuwait City where leaders of the USOC, IOC, U.S. Government and the Olympic Council of Asia met to strategize future support for Iraqi athletes in their attempt to qualify and participate at the Athens Olympic and Paralympic Games.

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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)