Amidst warfare and Israeli occupation, the Palestinian Olympic Team against all odds experienced a proud historical moment as they entered the stadium in Tokyo on Friday evening to usher in the official start of the Games. The Palestine Olympic Committee has sent teams to compete at each Summer Olympics since 1996 under the IOC country code PLE. Palestine has been recognized as a member of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) since 1986, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since 1995.

The Palestinian delegation will consist of 11 members, including coaching, a delegation head and 5 athletes participating in 4 different sports namely awimming, athletics, judo and weightlifting. Yazan Al-Bawwab and Dania Nour will compete in swimming and Wesam Abu Rmilah in Judo in the 73kg category. Mohammed Hamada ,weightlifting and Hanna Barakat will represent Palestine on the track for 200m and 400m races in athletics

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.

Source: Fatima Said