A double-sculls crew will compete under the Iraqi flag at the 2008 Beijing Games. This welcome news brings the Iraqi team up to four, including a female sprinter and a male discus-thrower.

This follows an agreement reached on Tuesday by the IOC and the Iraqi government, which has cleared the way for Iraqi participation in the Olympic Games in Beijing: The two Iraqi rowers places had originally been reallocated to the North Korean National Olympic Committee (NOC) after the Iraqis missed the deadline for entering a team. The North Korean NOC declined the offer and the places have therefore been returned to the Iraqi rowers