Mohammed Hamada is a champion weightlifter. But after struggling to survive in Gaza, he faces an uphill task to compete at the Paris games.
Before every weightlifting competition, Mohammed Hamada thinks of Gaza.
He thinks of the destruction of his home and people, or of the mass grave he dug for residents of the building next to his.
These circumstances have created a special kind of athlete. One who had to eat animal food to survive, losing 18kg in the process. And one who ultimately had to leave Gaza and his family, so he could try and compete in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
“We came out of Gaza not to escape death,” the 22-year-old Palestinian weightlifter said.
“We left Gaza to complete our right to defend Palestine.”
Mohammed comes from a family of weightlifters.
His nieces and nephews all participate in the sport and his older brother, Hussam, has trained him for years as Palestine’s national weightlifting coach.
At just 18, Mohammed made history as the first Palestinian Olympic weightlifter at the Tokyo 2020 Games.
He then won gold at the 2022 International Weightlifting Federation Junior World Championships in Greece.
Mohammed’s career was taking off, but Israel’s war on Gaza, beginning on October 7 after a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, jolted him straight back down to earth.
United Arab Emirates Dirham Exchange Rate