Published: 2021-07-24 09:08
Last Updated: 2025-01-01 07:21
Editor: Dalia Kharoufeh
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics has taken the world by storm, and in this year's games, Palestinians remained resilient, showing heightened representation and healthy competition in the worldly event.
Meet the Palestinians competing in a handful of different sports:
Wesam Abu Rmilah
Born in Jerusalem on Dec. 10, 1995, the 25-year-old will be competing in the judo discipline, more specifically, the 81 kilogram category.
July 27, Abu Rmilah will go up against Germany's Dominic Ressel at the Nippon Budokan stadium.
His father competed in judo at national level in Palestine and has also served as a coach in the sport. His brothers Ahmed and Amr have also represented Palestine in judo.
Abu Rmilah competed in the World Championships in 2013 in Rio de Janeiro, and in 2015 in Astana. He competed in the Asian Games in 2018 in Indonesia, in the Asia-Oceania Championships in 2019 in Abu Dhabi, and the Grand Prix in Antalya in 2017.
Yazan Al-Bawwab
The young Palestinian Bawwab, who was born Oct. 30, 1999, will be participating in the Olympics in the swimming category.
He will compete in the Men's 100 meter freestyle July 27 at the Tokyo Aquatics Center.
He grew up in Dubai, and holds both Italian and Palestinian citizenship.
Hanna Barakat
Barakat, born Sep. 1, 1999, will be competing in the Women's 100m track.
Hanna joined Brown University's Women's Track & Field Program in 2017 where she started her college career with a first-place finish in the 60 meters at the URI Sorlien Memorial Invitational with a time of 7.78 during the indoor season.
From 2019-2020, she has also been part of some very successful relay teams in both the 4x100m and the 4x400m.
Hanna's father Mohammed Barakat competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles for Team USA in the sport of field hockey.
Mohammed K H Hamada
19-year-old Hamada, born March 14, 2002 will be participating in the weightlifting event (men's 96 kilograms).
The first event Hamada will take part in will be at the Tokyo International Forum July 31.
The young athlete competed in the Asian Championships in 2020 and in the Junior World Championships in 2021.
Dania Nour
Dania Nour, a 17-year-old teenager, born Nov. 2, 2003 is a swimmer from Bethlehem, Palestine.
July 30, Nour will swim in the 'Women's 50 meter Freestyle' competition at the Tokyo Aquatics Center (Heat 3).
In 2018, she represented Palestine at the 2018 Asian Games held in Indonesia. She competed in the women's 50 meter freestyle, women's 100 meter freestyle and women's 50 meter butterfly events. In 2019, she represented Palestine at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships held in South Korea.