Despite having access to a fraction of the resources other countries put into their Olympic programs - Palestinian athletes are training hard for the games in Paris. For two swimmers, the competition is about much more than medals.

Paris

The 2024 Summer Olympics are underway in Paris, with competition lasting until mid-August.

Paris Olympics

Under the flag of Palestine, Valerie Tarazi and Yazan al-Bawab are preparing to represent their country at the Paris 2024 Olympics. They are two of just eight Palestinian athletes who have the opportunity to compete in these games. Valerie and Yazan see this competition as more than just a quest for medals; it is a chance to bring attention to their homeland.

Both athletes are part of the Palestinian international diaspora. Valerie was born in the United States, and Yazan in Saudi Arabia. Despite having limited resources and training facilities due to the decades-long Israeli occupation, they remain dedicated to their cause. The lack of facilities like swimming pools poses a significant challenge for their training.

Training rigorously, the swimmers aim to keep the world's focus on Palestine. They emphasize that just participating in the Olympics is a statement in itself, reminding the world of the ongoing struggles in their homeland. 

Valerie and Yazan acknowledge that their visibility on the international stage is vital, even if they don't win medals. They hope that their presence at the Olympics will ensure that the plight of Palestinians is not forgotten.



Palestinian swimmers compete for recognition at Paris Olympics

Under the flag of Palestine, Valerie Tarazi and Yazan al-Bawab are getting ready to represent their country. They are two of just eight Palestinians who have the chance to compete at the Paris 2024 Olympics. I'm one of the luckiest people in the world. I have the opportunity to compete for my country, to raise the flag for my country. My heart is with them. Every time I swim, every time I jump in the pool, I'm thinking about the people of Palestine, the struggles, and I just want to represent them in the best way possible. Athletes are strictly forbidden from making any kind of political statement at the Olympics. But for these Palestinian swimmers, simply competing is a chance to remind the world what's happening in their homeland. Whether a medal or not, we're ready to win. The fact that we're here, the fact that people don't want us to be here, they don't want us to play sports, they don't want us to exist. People don't want Palestine to exist. They look at the flag and they don't want it. And so to be here is a win. Valerie and Yazan weren't raised in Palestine. They're part of its international diaspora. Valerie was born in the United States, Yazan in Saudi Arabia. But the suffering of people in Gaza is never far from their thoughts. Watching people on the news swim for packages in the sea, and most of them, a lot of them drowning, that hits really hard, because one of the projects that Yazan's working on was going to be to give swim lessons to children in Gaza, and that project didn't work because of the war, and it's just something that could have been prevented, and it just hurts my heart so, so much. As hard as they train, decades of Israeli occupation means Palestinian athletes don't have access to the same resources as their competitors. We are trying our best to move our message of Palestine and everything, but at the end of the day, if we go back home, there's not going to be a pool, and how are you going to have Olympic swimmers if there's no pool? Win or lose in Paris this summer, these Olympians want to make sure the world does not forget what's happening to Palestine. Ferdi Akar, Al Jazeera.

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