Rukaya al-Zubaidi placed a cautious foot on a skateboard and then struggled to find her balance as others glided back and forth at Baghdad's first park dedicated to the sport. Kjell Van Hansewyck of Make Life Skate Life said it was a "real struggle" to find a location for the skatepark.

One teenager who was one of the first to try out the park said he had been waiting for such a moment for five years.