Mohammed Abu Khoussa, Afro-Palestinian (Gaza), 1st Palestinian to compete in 100m

By Palestine Chronicle Staff
Mohammed Abu Khoussa, at only 22 years of age, will be the first Palestinian runner to compete in the 100-meter sprint at the Rio 2016 Olympics. Born in Gaza, Abu Khoussa, like his counterpart, Mary al-Atrash, has overcome dire circumstances in the besieged area, living under Israeli occupation, in order to participate in the Olympics.

Abu Khoussa’s family immigrated to Gaza from Egypt in 1948. He currently lives with a poor eight member family in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City.


Abu Khoussa is no stranger to athletic success – he won bronze this February for the 60-meter race at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championship that was held in Qatar. He also finished first and third respectively in the 200 and 100-meter races at an international tournament in France in 2014, setting a national Palestinian record. Abu Khoussa had previously set a Palestinian record at the 2013 Athletics World Championship.


At the Rio Olympics 2016, Abu Khoussa will run in the 100 and 200-meter sprints. He hopes to beat his current best time in the 100-meter dash of 10:55, especially after just having completed 10 months of training on the island of Mauritius. This young athlete has captured the attention of the world who anticipates a great performance from him in Rio. (Palestine Chronicle)

 

He is also a good looking dude. I wish him the best of luck. Maybe it will bring some hope to the Palestine/Gaza situation.
# Peace in the middle east

 

So Prince Abu........he had the nerve to take his shirt off






But later this happened

 

I'am interested in his story too. To be honest a I was a little confused seeing his pic because you usually dont see people of the African diaspora as reps for many middle eastern countries. Partly because of racism ;some ppl for get that the Arabs sold African slaves way back before the Euros and many Arab countries still do it to this day. I had to remember how close it is to Africa and that Africans have been involved with the area since forever. Him coming from a poor family I do wonder why his family immigrated to Gaza?

 

Dude has a very heart wrenching story Im surprised why not many media outlets have focused on his story


'It is not easy to hold your dead brother before going for training'

RIO DE JANEIRO: Sometimes sporting success transcends the game. There are occasions when these moments turn into inspiring stories to preserve for posterity. Mohammed Abukhousa’s is such a narrative. He doesn’t have grounds to practice on. His father is blind. He has four sisters. His brother is no more.

Most others in the 23-year-old’s place would have been crushed. He was in crutches, gingerly walking towards his car. His 100m dash had just got over. He could not brush shoulders with the great Usain Bolt but the Palestinian was happy. The pain he had in his legs was bearable, but not the one inside.

“Do you have any idea what it’s like to hold the lifeless body of a younger brother?” asked the sprinter, who tore the hamstrings in both legs. “He was just 13. Can you believe it? He died in the war. It’s not easy to hold your dead brother and then go train. I have done that. And I had to explain everything to my father who can’t see.” That was in 2012. “I have been struggling since then. My family too has been suffering.”

Abukhousa qualified for the heats with a timing of 10.82s, but could not do well because of the hamstring and limped to the finish line with the crowd cheering his every step. “I am very happy that I qualified (for the Olympics). My father is very happy. I can’t leave him behind because someone needs to take care of the family. But my father told me not to worry and asked me to go compete.”

If not for his father, Abukhousa wouldn’t have been here at the Olympics. “He can’t see, so we have to depend on some people who will look after him and my family. In Palestine, you don’t know what will happen tomorrow. He said to me, you just go. Don’t worry about me.”

Abukhousa, from Gaza Strip, laments the pitiful conditions back home and trained in Mauritius before the Olympics. “I practiced in Mauritius over the last one year or so. Nothing is good. There is no stadium. There are a lot of good athletes in Palestine but we cannot go out to compete. The airport is closed and some people cannot go out. We are very good at sports. But we don’t have the facilities.”

He struggles to keep his family alive. Abukhousa says: “I don’t have a job and can’t do anything. It is really frustrating. I am just training hard for them. I have been training for one year and I wanted to do something for my country.

“My only wish right now is to see my country free,” Abukhousa said, as he walked away.