Mohammed Khamis Haidar Hamada (; born 14 March 2002) is a

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

weightlifter from

Gaza Gaza may refer to: Places Palestine * Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea ** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip ** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip Mandatory Palestine * Gaza Sub ...

. He was the first Palestinian to compete in the sport at the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

Career

Hamada participated in the men's 96-kilogram event at the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

, making him the first-ever weightlifter from Palestine to compete at the Olympics. He finished 13th. Hamada left Gaza several weeks before the Olympics to avoid traveling issues, having secured his place after participating in six international qualifying contests since 2019. His brother Hussam is the Palestinian national weightlifting team coach. He was the

flag bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a colour-bearer or flag-bearer, is a person who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a ...

of Palestine's Olympic National Team during the

2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. In 2022, Hamada won gold and bronze in the IWF Weightlifting Junior World Championships held in

Heraklion Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...

, Greece. In 2024, Hamada injured his knee and lost around carrying water during the ongoing

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

and

Gaza genocide According to a United Nations Special Committee, Amnesty International, and other experts, Israel is committing genocide in Gaza against the Palestinian people during its ongoing invasion and bombing of the Gaza Strip as part of the Gaza w ...

. He thus failed to qualify for the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

in Paris. A documentary film chronicles his journey during the

, which included having to eat animal feed to survive.

References

External links

* Living people 2002 births Palestinian male weightlifters Olympic weightlifters for Palestine Weightlifters at the 2020 Summer Olympics 21st-century Palestinian sportsmen Sportspeople from Gaza City {{Palestine-weightlifting-bio-stub