Paralympic champion Jarrah
Nassar lives in Nasiriyah in southern Iraq, where he works hard selling
vegetables to provide for his family and cover his ill son’s medical expenses,
despite his own physical challenges.
Jarrahs’ physical
condition, long work hours and difficult circumstances left him exhausted, but
he did not give in to hopelessness. Instead, he faced his challenges with
patience and persistence, standing up to those who bullied him and dismissing
the looks of pity from people around him.
He trained hard in the
courtyard of his father’s modest home, where he lives, to become a world
champion in shot put and a hero everyone in Iraq could admire.
Describing his keys to
success, Jarrah says: “There is a tremendous source of strength inside each one
of us, which stems from our self-confidence. Sports is an ideal path to
self-fulfillment and is not restricted to a limited group of people. Anyone can
practice any sport and become good at it. Anyone can become a hero and role
model for others, provided he is equipped with unbounded determination, which
is the key to success. He must work until he achieves his goal, which will
inevitably lead to reaching even greater goals.”
Jarrah participated in
several international competitions and won many awards, including a gold medal
at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, a gold medal at the 2017
World Para Athletics Championships in London and a silver medal at the 2020
Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan. His latest and most important achievement,
however, was receiving the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports
Award.
Jarrah visits Dubai often
to participate in competitions, and he describes his relationship with the UAE
as being always “associated with joy, success and achievements”.
“I was honored to receive
the award named after His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the
first innovator,” he said. “It is the most important sports award in the world
given to creative champions, and I am humbled to be one of them.”