Accepting a wildcard selection to compete at the Paris Games, age 20 Waseem Abu Sal will make Olympic history as the first boxer from Palestine
With his wildcard ticket at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, Palestinian boxer Waseem Abu Sal has eclipsed all prior records, even in the face of obstacles like barriers, checkpoints, and updates on casualties from Gaza.
On July 28, Waseem Abu Sal will make his Olympic debut at the Roland Garros Stadium in the French capital. There, he will compete against 248 boxers from 70 different countries for the gold medal.
Who is boxer Waseem Abu Sal Palestine flag bearer at the 2024 Paris Olympics, bio, age and coach
Waseem Abu Sal from Ramallah was the flag bearer for Palestine at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
20 year old Waseem Abu Sal has dedicated every second of the past 12 months to his Olympic preparations. He participated in competitions in Russia and Algeria in 2023, attended training camps in Morocco and Jordan, and completed his preparations in China for the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou in September.
Even though he was not able to qualify for the Olympics through the qualifying competitions, obtaining a wildcard spot has given him newfound optimism for achievement at the highest level.
His father led him to Elbarrio Gym in Ramallah when he was ten years old, with a goal that went far beyond teaching his son self-defence techniques or a hobby. That was the beginning of his path to such esteemed business.
Abu Sal has benefited greatly from the direction and guidance of Elbarrio Gym owner and Palestinian Olympic Committee head Nader Jayousi. Due to restrictions imposed by the West Bank and Gaza Israeli walls, his coach in Gaza, Ahmed Harara, provides him with remote support in the form of daily training programs.
32 year oldHarara can only meet Abu Sal when competing internationally, therefore the boxer practices twice a day, in the morning and again in the evening, under Jayousi’s supervision.
Since 2018, Abu Sal has won medals on a global scale. Since then, he has made great progress, and in comparison, to the difficulties he faces on a daily basis, no objective is too high for this Ramallah-born fighter.
The conflict in Gaza, which erupted following Hamas’ historic onslaught on Israel on October 7 in which militants murdered over 1,200 Israelis and abducted around 240 more, has been one of the main obstacles to his preparation for the Olympics.