She is plainly dressed. She is tall and talkative. She heads for Beijing Olympics amidst gathering clouds of war.

She always wears a sweet smile when talking.

She will stride into the Bird's Nest (China's National Stadium) as the flag bearer of her national team at the opening ceremony of the 29th summer Olympic Games.

She is Homa Hosseini, 19, hails from western Iran and prides herself on being the her country's first ever Olympic rower.

She was so proud of herself and so self-confident during the whole interview with Xinhua in Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park Tuesday afternoon.

"I just want to make history for myself and for my country," she said with a broad smile on her cheeks.

Homa began her story with a brief introduction to her short rowing history.

"I started rowing two years ago. Before that, I knew nothing about it. I was in our city's (Kermanshah) basketball team. I heard our national rowing team was enrolling new rowers. So I applied and luckily, was among the top seven," she uttered in short sentences.

One year after entering the national rowing team, the 1.82-meter-tall single sculls rower had a Romanian coach and qualified for the Olympics by coming out the fourth in the qualification competition in Shanghai of China last April.

Homa said she was enjoying staunch family support for her rowing career.

"I have a brother and a sister. My mother is a housewife and my father, who died several years ago, worked in a car-repair shop. My family blessed me before I set out for Beijing," Homa said while helping her team leader adjusting her boat to nicety on the vast stretch of green lawn close to the glittering water course.

She was diligent and made strenuous efforts in training.

"I train five hours per day and have only had two months off over the past couple of years. In summer, I train in the 1,000-meter-long water course in Tehran and in winter, I do weightlifting and other physical training," she said.

On her favorite pastimes, she listed reading, listening to music, and chatting on Internet.

"Actually, I don't have much time to myself. So not much time for other things than training," she shrugged.

Like most young athletes, she said she also likes travelling, naming the Great Wall, Tian'anmen Square and Wangfujing shopping street as her favorite places to tour during her short stay in Beijing.

When talking about the heavy and still topic of clouds of war over the Gulf, there was not any sign of heavy heart in her smooth and light tone.

"I think the United States wants to have a war with all of the world. Nobody likes wars," she blurted out, adding that the gathering clouds of war would not make a dent in her training and her performance at Beijing Olympics.

"I come for Olympics and my country and my family are waiting to celebrate," Homa chuckled. With her large scarf rippling in the breeze, she stepped towards her boat in the evening glow for her pre-Olympics training.

(Xinhua News Agency August 6, 2008)