sealadaigh
Rookie
- Banned
- #1
sorta cool that palestine will be represented again in the olympic games...tough kids. i like that.
http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=3584&ed=201&edid=201
Palestinian Olympians Ready to Make History in the Pool
The clock is counting down to the greatest show on earth, with less than a year before the Summer Olympic Games in London. Palestinian athletes are training hard in pursuit of the qualifying times that could take them to the oldest and most famous festival of sporting competition.
At the previous Games in Beijing 2008, Gazan long-distance runner Nader Al-Masri carried the flag for Palestine; finishing 38th in the 5000m event. Al-Masri has subsequently built on that achievement, winning the inaugural Gaza marathon this year and competing internationally. He will arrive in London confident of success.
But there are exciting youth prospects too, most notably Sabine Hazboun, a 17-year-old girl from Bethlehem who is already a champion swimmer with the potential to make much bigger waves.
Hazboun has been representing Palestine on the world stage since she was just 13, by which time she had already won the national championship and been marked as an outstanding prospect for her command of all four strokes. Since then she has competed at prestigious international events, including the 2010 Youth Olympics and the 2011 FINA World Championships, where she was the only Palestinian to compete.
Along with fellow swimmer Yara Dawani, 19, Sabine has been training at the High Performance Centre in Barcelona, Spain. They are there as part of the Olympic Solidarity Programme, which supports athletes from disadvantageous circumstances.
Palestinian athletes, and swimmers in particular, are handicapped by a lack of facilities. “You can’t find specialist coaching for professionals,” remarks Sabine, who, while in her home country, has been limited to the use of a small, overcrowded pool in Bethlehem - light years away from the cavernous 50m amphitheatres that she is used to competing in.
Quote shortened to comply with board copyright rules
http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=3584&ed=201&edid=201
Palestinian Olympians Ready to Make History in the Pool
The clock is counting down to the greatest show on earth, with less than a year before the Summer Olympic Games in London. Palestinian athletes are training hard in pursuit of the qualifying times that could take them to the oldest and most famous festival of sporting competition.
At the previous Games in Beijing 2008, Gazan long-distance runner Nader Al-Masri carried the flag for Palestine; finishing 38th in the 5000m event. Al-Masri has subsequently built on that achievement, winning the inaugural Gaza marathon this year and competing internationally. He will arrive in London confident of success.
But there are exciting youth prospects too, most notably Sabine Hazboun, a 17-year-old girl from Bethlehem who is already a champion swimmer with the potential to make much bigger waves.
Hazboun has been representing Palestine on the world stage since she was just 13, by which time she had already won the national championship and been marked as an outstanding prospect for her command of all four strokes. Since then she has competed at prestigious international events, including the 2010 Youth Olympics and the 2011 FINA World Championships, where she was the only Palestinian to compete.
Along with fellow swimmer Yara Dawani, 19, Sabine has been training at the High Performance Centre in Barcelona, Spain. They are there as part of the Olympic Solidarity Programme, which supports athletes from disadvantageous circumstances.
Palestinian athletes, and swimmers in particular, are handicapped by a lack of facilities. “You can’t find specialist coaching for professionals,” remarks Sabine, who, while in her home country, has been limited to the use of a small, overcrowded pool in Bethlehem - light years away from the cavernous 50m amphitheatres that she is used to competing in.
Quote shortened to comply with board copyright rules