PARIS (WS News)– Shot putter Fadi Deeb, the only member of the Palestinian Olympic delegation from Gaza and the only Paralympian athlete from Palestine, will take part in the Paris Paralympics on August 30.
He speaks about training with rocks and scrap metal in war-torn Gaza – and carrying his people’s hopes and dreams at the Paris Games.
While Fadi Deeb, 39, has been diligently training in Paris in preparation for the Paralympic Games, the Gaza war is never far from his thoughts. “I am raising my flag here in Paris to show people that Palestine is not dying,” Deeb said. “We are still here, we are still fighting and we are still alive.”
Deeb – who has lost 15 members of his family, including his brother, in the Israel-Hamas war – is the only member of the Palestinian Olympic delegation from Gaza and the only Paralympic athlete from Palestine. His presence is significant, given that about 400 athletes and supporting staff have been killed since the October 7 Hamas attacks that triggered the Israel-Hamas war, and others have been unable to train or travel due to Israeli bombing or restrictions, according to the Palestine Olympic Committee (POC).
