Intro:

Safaa Rashid Mahmud al-Jamaili and Dana Hussein are two of the nine athletes that will represent Iraq at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Script:

As Olympic training venues go, the dust-coated weight room tucked down an alley behind Baghdad's bomb-proof barriers doesn't rate highly.

There isn't even a fan to help relieve Iraq's 48degree C (118 degree F) summer heat - there is no electricity, thanks to Iraq's frequent power cuts.

But weightlifter Safaa Rashid Mahmud al-Jamaili is a late addition to Iraq's team going to the Olympics in London:

Nations win spots at the Games based on their teams' combined scores at qualifying events.

Iraq failed to win at the Asian Championships in April but when a member of another country failed a dope test, Jamaili was delighted to be called up.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Safa Rashid Mahmud
''Now I am preparing to participate in London Olympics. I hope to get a permanent training camp so that I can win a medal in London Olympics. I hope to achieve something good for the Iraqi people.''

Jamaili will travel to London as the sole weightlifter on the nine-person Iraqi Olympic team.

Sprinter Dana Hussein will join the 22-year-old.

Hussein was the only Iraqi to compete at the 2008 Beijing Games and she will represent the war-torn country in the 100m this summer.

The chances of the Iraqi flag being raised above a podium in London are slim but the determination of the few athletes that are aiming to beat the odds is beyond doubt.