- Samira Bitar
Samira Bitar, born February 21, 1990, is a
Bahrain iswimmer . She was one of the first Muslim women from a country of theArabian Peninsula to compete in swimming in theOlympic Games , when she swam for Bahrain in the 50 metre freestyle at the2004 Summer Olympics inAthens The "New York Times" reported incorrectly that Bitar was "Bahrain's first female Olympic swimmer" [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DEED6163EF932A1575BC0A9629C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all "SUMMER 2004 GAMES; Tradition Was a Dreamer's Big Obstacle"] , "New York Times", August 21, 2004] ; in fact, Fatema Gerashi had represented Bahrain in swimming at the Sydney Olympics four years earlier. [ [http://www.times-olympics.co.uk/communities/swimming/swimmingrepor53.html "Trio of try-hards splash their way into our hearts"] , "The Times", September 22, 2000]Bitar completed the 50m race with a personal best of 31.00 seconds, enough to win her heat but not enough to advance to the next round. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DEED6163EF932A1575BC0A9629C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all "SUMMER 2004 GAMES; Tradition Was a Dreamer's Big Obstacle"] , "New York Times", August 21, 2004] [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympics_2004/swimming/results/3535060.stm "Women's 50m freestyle results"] , BBC, August 12, 2004]
She represented Bahrain again at the
2008 Summer Olympics inBeijing [ [http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=225153&Sn=SPOR&IssueID=31134 "Bahrain gear up for Games"] , "Gulf Daily News", August 1, 2008] and won her heat in the 50 metre freestyle event. Her time of 30:32 was well ahead of second-runnerGloria Koussihouede 's 37:09 for Benin, but nonetheless insufficient to advance to the next round. [ [http://www.newtimes.co.rw/index.php?issue=13624&article=8759 "Two down, two to go as swimmers fail in Beijing"] , "The New Times", August 16, 2008]External link
* [http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/BIO/Athlete/1/8003821.shtml Biography] on the official website of the Beijing Olympics
References
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