For nearly nine months, the world has watched as the conflict between Israel and Hamas has ravaged Palestinian lands.
Thousands of lives have been lost and homes destroyed, and the country is grappling with a devastating humanitarian crisis.
Around the time of the war, sports vanished. Yet, with high spirits, 6 Palestinian athletes have defied the odds and secured their spots at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Five athletes competed in the Tokyo Olympics
The Tokyo Olympics saw five athletes representing Palestine. The athletes came from swimming, track and field, weightlifting, and judo.
Each competitor represented not just themselves but also the hopes and dreams of their nation.
Omar Ismail gets direct qualification
This time, six athletes are going to Paris—one woman and five men. They’ll compete in boxing, judo, swimming, shooting, and taekwondo. There might even be a seventh athlete joining them in track and field. Only one athlete, taekwondo player Omar Ismail, qualified directly.
The others got their tickets to Paris via a special programme. The International Olympic Committee helps athletes from developing countries compete, even if they wouldn’t normally qualify. The other five athletes got the universality quota.
Along with Ismail, Jorge Antonio Salhe will compete in shooting, Yazan al Bawwab and Valerie Tarazi in swimming, Fares Badawi in judo, and Wasim Abusal in boxing. Al Bawwab is competing for the second time in the Olympics.
More on Olympics
300 athletes lost their lives in Palestine
The war has killed nearly 300 athletes, referees, coaches, and other staff involved in sports. This includes Majed Abu Maraheel, the first Palestinian Olympian, who competed in Atlanta in 1996. The war also damaged sports facilities, forcing athletes from Gaza to train elsewhere.
The wait continues for Palestine
Palestine competed in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta for the first time. They’ve competed in every Summer Olympics since, but they haven’t yet won a medal. The Palestinian athletes in Paris will hope to change that and bring home their nation’s first Olympic glory.
