Baghdad’s Bodybuilder

March 10, 2009, 6:06 pm

By Mudhafer al-Husaini




bodybuilder Sattar Attiya

For Sattar Attiya the American invasion of Iraq helped his bodybuilding career in an unexpected way. The chaos and open borders meant he could get proteins and nutritional supplements which were not available under Saddam Hussein’s regime.

Five years later Sattar Attiya became world champion in the 65kg category (just over 143 pounds) of the International Federation of Body Building and Fitness world championships held in Bahrain on November 2008.

Born in 1980 in one of the poor Shiite neighborhoods of southern Baghdad, Sattar began training in 1997, in a city whose many weightlifting gymnasiums bear crudely-drawn portraits of the country’s bodybuilding idol: Arnold Schwarzenegger. Sattar has won Iraqi, Arab and Asian competitions but was unable to participate in many international championships before the 2003 war because Iraq was suspended under the international sanctions imposed on his country.

A father of two, he is responsible for three families; his own, his parents’ and that of his younger brother, who all live in a small home with two bedrooms and one hallway.

The hard conditions of life under Saddam’s regime and even after the American invasion did not stop Sattar from training in a small gym on the roof of a building near his neighborhood. “I spent the housekeeping money on my training and on other expenses for this world championship,” he said from behind his desk in his small gymnasium in Baghdad.

He opens the gym every day at 9 a.m., heads home on his small scooter at midday to have lunch with his family and then comes back to the gym in the afternoon and stays until 10 p.m. The gym is his only livelihood, apart from a small stipend from the Iraqi body building federation.

The IFBB hailed his world championship victory as the ‘Big Surprise From Iraq’. The account of the finals on its website reads:

“A new contestant from Iraq, Sattar Atiya, dominated this class. His road to the top was not easy as he lost the 1st round to Song but then won both final rounds. He has no international contest history. He performed exciting posing routine, with rhythmic music and quickly flexed poses. His strong point is his general body proportions, with impressive “V” – taper trunk and wide shoulders.”

Sattar recalls the moment of victory, saying: “I jumped in the air when I heard them calling my name as a champion. The greatest thing was to see the Iraqi flag rising among 75 other flags of the countries which participated in the championship.

He claims to have received many offers granting him nationality in other countries so he can represent them in tournaments, but refused them all because he loves Iraq. However he also feels neglected in his country, saying that officials have not paid that much attention to him.

Sattar was rewarded by Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki with a fund of 10 million dinars - around $8,500 - but was hoping to get a house, new car and bigger gym out of his victory.

“Next time I leave Iraq and participate in a championship; I may think seriously about the offers I get for having a good job there,” he said.