Najlah Al-Dayyeni secures Iraq’s first female Paralympic gold
Najlah is the first Iraqi female athlete to win a Paralympic medal since the establishment of the Paralympic Games.
Najlah Imad Lafta Al-Dayyeni, born in 2004, is an Iraqi para table tennis player. She competed at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Paralympics, winning gold in the women's class 6 event in 2024. / Photo: Reuters
Iraqi table tennis champion Najlah Imad Al-Dayyeni made history by earning Iraq its first-ever female Paralympic gold medal at the ongoing Paralympic Games in Paris.
According to a statement from the Iraqi Paralympic Committee, Imad clinched the gold after defeating Ukrainian player Maryna Lytovchenko in a 3-1 victory in the table tennis competition.
Imad had earlier qualified for the final of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games by overcoming a French opponent with a score of 3-1 in the semifinals.
Iraqi Minister of Youth and Sports, Ahmed Al-Mubarak, congratulated Najlah on her historic gold medal win. In a statement, the Ministry of Youth and Sports praised Imad's outstanding accomplishment.
Minister Al-Mubarak lauded the gold medal as a result of "dedicated efforts from both the athlete and her coaching team," and he commended the collective work of the Iraqi Paralympic Committee for contributing to this significant achievement.
It is worth noting that Najlah is the first Iraqi female athlete to win a Paralympic medal since the establishment of the Paralympic Games.
Najlah was disabled from a bomb blast in Baghdad in 2008, a year that witnessed severe violence and political instability due to the ongoing US-led war on Iraq.
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