Palestine: Olympic team plan to fly Palestinian flag high at Tokyo Games

The Palestinian Olympic team are preparing for the forthcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo, starting on July 23rd. The event has been eagerly anticipated by Arab and international sports fan alike. 

After receiving invitations from the International Olympic Committee, the Palestinian delegation will consist of 11 people, including coaches, a delegation head and 5 athletes participating in 4 different sports - swimming, athletics, judo and weightlifting. 

Yazan Al-Bawwab and Dania Nour will complete in the swimming event and Palestine's representative in the judo event will be Wesam Abu Rmilah in the 73kg category. Mohammed Hamada will compete in weightlifting and Hanna Barakat will represent Palestine on the track for 200m and 400m races. 

Palestine's first Olympic weightlifter to compete in Tokyo Games https://t.co/2iOi4ul9N6

— Middle East Monitor (@MiddleEastMnt) July 19, 2021

All athletes have been hard at work training for the Tokyo games, taking training courses in their countries and abroad. As a result of their efforts in various championships and gaining impressive results, they are adamant about raising the name Palestine during the upcoming Tokyo session.

In 1996, the Palestinian flag was raised in Atlanta at the opening ceremony of the Olympic games for the first time by sprinter Majed Abu Maraheel. 

Since 2000, Palestine has participated in all five Olympic games: the Sydney Olympics in 2000, Athens in 2004, Beijing in 2008,, London in 2021, and Rio De Janeiro in 2016.   

This article is part of The New Arab's special coverage of the Tokyo Olympics. Click here to read the whole series.

This is an edited translation from our Arabic edition. To read the original article click here.