Sanna Abubkheet (; born December 7, 1984, in

Deir al-Balah Deir al-Balah or Deir al Balah () is a city in the center of the Gaza Strip, Palestine, and the administrative capital of the Deir al-Balah Governorate. It is located over south of Gaza City. The city had a population of 75,132 in 2017. The ci ...

) is a retired female Palestinian middle-distance runner, who specialized in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of a ...

. Abubkheet qualified for the Palestinian squad in the women's 800 metres at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

by receiving a wild card entry slot from

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

. Running against seven other athletes in heat three, Abubkheet crossed the finish line by more than half a minute behind leader and top medal favorite

Kelly Holmes Dame Kelly Holmes (born 19 April 1970) is a retired British Middle-distance running, middle distance Track and field, athlete and television personality. Holmes specialised in the 800 metres, 800 and 1500 metres events and won gold medals for ...

of Great Britain with a seventh-place time in 2:32.10. Abubkheet failed to advance into the semifinals as she placed farther from two automatic slots for the next round and ranked no. 42 overall in the prelims. Building a historic milestone as the first female athlete from Gaza Strip to compete at the Olympics, Abubkheet was appointed by the

Palestine Olympic Committee The Palestine Olympic Committee () is the National Olympic Committee of the State of Palestine. The State of Palestine has been recognized as a member of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) since 1986, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) ...

to carry the nation's flag in the opening ceremony.

References

External links

* 1984 births Living people Palestinian female middle-distance runners Olympic athletes for Palestine Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics {{Palestine-athletics-bio-stub People from Deir al-Balah Sportspeople from the Gaza Strip 21st-century Palestinian sportswomen