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.
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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.
Profile: Mohammed Abu Khoussa, Men's 100m Sprint #PalestineAtTheOlympics #RoadToRio #Rio2016 https://t.co/7tCChTk3H1
— Interpal (@InterpalUK) August 8, 2016
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)
