Stamps by Countries - NIG

       MI 1050

       SC C374

       YV 355

Hamadou Djibo Issaka (NIG) is not anOlympic Rowing champion

as the headline in both souvenir sheets suggests.On the contrary

- he came last in a field of 33 competitors, 300 mbehind the

second-slowest sculler in this event. He had been given awild-card

entry "to strengthen the principle of universal representation".

Whereas the media and the spectators celebrated the performance 

of the 35-years-old athlete who was a novice with only three months

of training, Sir Steven Redgrave - Rowing legend with five gold medals

from five consecutive Olympic regattas - claimed he should not have

been allowed into the competition at the expense of better scullers.

       SC 1195

       MI 2267

       YV 1881

       MI 2268

       YV 1882

       MI 2269

       YV 1883

       MI 2270

       YV 1884

       MI SS 194

       YV BF 177

       YV 1893

Olympic regatta Athens 2004 - M4X result

!. RUS (Nikolay Spinyov, Igor Kravtsov,

              Alexsey Svirin, Sergey Fedorovtsev)  5:56,85

2. CZE                                                              5:57,43

3. UKR                                                              5:58,87