The story of young Iraqi Najlah Imad is one of overcoming adversity and leading by example. She was barely two years old when a bomb destroyed her father's car. He was a former soldier in the city of Baquba, north-east of Baghdad. It was 2008, and her life stopped. It came to a complete halt. Her future was uncertain.

However, her spirit, her sacrifice and her resilience made all the difference. It was her guiding force. Against the wishes of her family, who didn't see it in a positive light, she started playing table tennis. Today, at the age of 19, she wants to win gold at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. Nothing less.

"Table tennis was a turning point for me. My life has been different since I started the game," the 19-year-old told AFP. And indeed it has changed. Najlah was only three years old when the bomb hit her with a force that still terrifies her. She lost most of her right leg, most of her left leg at the knee and most of her right forearm. 

Her composure as she describes the events and recalls the memories of that fateful day is overwhelming. "Sitting in a dilapidated sports centre in Baquba, where she trains and prepares for her trip to Paris, she says, "Table tennis has improved my mental health."

Najlah has one demeanour when she talks about her sporting career and another when she remembers what happened. She begins her daily ritual of sitting on her prosthetics in front of the blue table, focused and ready to hit the ball with the utmost precision.

Like many sports stories, it all began when she was 10 years old and a coach visited her home. He wanted her to form a local Paralympic team, this time. Her family objected. She didn't get any support at first because they said, "She won't achieve anything."

Nothing could stop her. Not even what she saw. "When I first started, I saw other people with disabilities doing sports in spite of the loss of limbs," she said. The positive energy of these people in good spirits in spite of everything was an encouragement to her.

After six months of training, Najlah played her first match in a local tournament in Baghdad. "I won!" exclaimed Najlah. "I was the surprise of the tournament. That triumph was the fuel she needed to compete in 30 international tournaments over the years, winning medals and trophies. She proudly displays them on a shelf in her modest home.

In 2021, she went to Tokyo for the Paralympic Games, and in 2023 she won a gold medal at the 2022 Asian Para Games in China. The Iraqi Paralympic Committee provides Najlah with a modest monthly stipend and travel expenses to competitions when the budget allows. She does what she can with it.

She trains twice a week in Baquba and another two days in Baghdad, with her father by her side. Occasionally, she has the opportunity to travel abroad for training before international competitions and to train in better sports facilities.
"I always aim for gold," says Najlah. She strives for the maximum. She doesn't want to think about anything else.

She is one of the most promising players and has the highest hopes, but she has to make do with training in this sports centre in Baquba, where she has little to do with the other players. She dreams of her idols, who appear in photos on the walls. 

There, they organise training sessions and dream afternoons as best they can. Four second-hand ping-pong tables serve as their testing ground. They are in a somewhat precarious state. They got them from a scrap yard. "We had to fix them to use them," laments coach Hossam al-Bayati. He joined the national Paralympic coaching team in 2016.

You have to see her wrap a black cloth around her right arm at the elbow to cushion her crutch as she carefully attaches her prosthesis. With her left hand, she grips the paddle and sets off. Her father was the first to be surprised. He didn't want her to play. He soon realised how important it was to support her and encourage her passion.

"She resisted. She challenged herself and the world," says her proud father, Imad Lafta. He said, "Whenever she walks down the street, people recognise her and congratulate us. Some girls even ask to be photographed with her," her father said. She is in training, competition and education. She goes to school and will graduate this year.

"Her father said: "When she makes a promise, she keeps it. Now her family supports her. Her story is an achievement. It shows that there are many lives in one. There are moments when everything falls apart. However, the will of people can overcome anything.