First Palestinian Olympic boxer fights hurdles before history

RAMALLAH – Every morning, Palestinian boxer Waseem Abu Sal checks texts from his Cairo-based coach – a Gazan who cannot travel to him in the occupied West Bank – to see his daily training schedule as he prepares to make history at the Olympics.

The 20-year-old will be the first Palestinian boxer to participate in the Olympics after he bagged a wildcard spot and now dreams of delivering the first medal for the Palestinians when he competes in Paris.

“This has been my dream since I was 10 years old,” he told AFP the day after receiving the invitation in late June.

“Every day I went to sleep and woke up thinking about how I could reach the Olympics.”

Abu Sal will take on his first Olympic fight on July 28 after an unusual training routine with his remote coach Ahmed Harara, 32, who is held back by Israeli travel restrictions.

“I only see him when I travel” for international competitions, Abu Sal told AFP at his gym in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority.

“He writes my training schedule every day, and I train in the morning, and again in the evening with coach Nader Jayousi.”

Harara said he could not see his fighter because of “the occupation barriers between the West Bank and Gaza” as an ID holder of the latter territory.

Though Abu Sal did not make it through the Olympic qualifying rounds, he received a wildcard spot in a system that ensures representation for all countries at the Games.

The political reality of the West Bank – dotted by Israeli army checkpoints that restrict movement – means Abu Sal is fighting hurdles even before he makes history.

“Athletes from the West Bank can’t easily come to us,” he said.

His usual sparring partner in Ramallah outweighs him by several weight classes – 71kg to Abu Sal’s 57kg.

Another partner closer to him in weight is based in Jerusalem, on the other side of Israel’s security barrier, making regular training difficult.

“This makes it hard to hold tournaments, leading to less competition in the country,” he said.

Travelling abroad to train or compete comes with its own difficulties.

“Many countries deny visas to those with Palestinian passports, causing us to miss out on tournaments while waiting for visas,” he said.

One of the biggest challenges to his Olympic preparation has been the war in Gaza, which started after Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel on Oct 7 that left 1,195 people dead, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed nearly 38,000 people, also mostly civilians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Among those killed were athletes or relatives of athletes, according to Palestinian officials. Jayousi points to the cases of a coach killed in an air strike, a Gaza boxer who lost an uncle, and another whose eye was lost to shrapnel.

The devastating conflict and casualty updates knocked the mental health of Abu Sal and his teammates, said Jayousi.

“This has affected our boxers big time, because we were every day getting news about athletes we are losing.” AFP