Background
He was born in Baghdad to Kurdish parents.
He was born in Baghdad to Kurdish parents.
He is fluent in Kurdish, Arabic, English and Swedish. They were last-minute qualifiers for the Beijing Games, obtaining a place when North of Korea declined an invitation to send rowers, and the invitation was reallocated to Iraq. They are two of only four competitors on the 2008 Iraqi Olympic team
Nawzad and Hussein train on the Tigris river in central Baghdad.
Nawzad was living in Sweden, but returned to Iraq to train for the Olympics. After this victory Adel Ali, Secretary General of Iraq"s National Olympic Committee announced that his organisation was committed to providing better funding for sport in Iraq.
Before the Asian Games, Haider and other members of the Iraqi squad spent a month preparing in the United States training with members of the United States rowing team and competing in the prestigious Head of the Charles regatta.