Palestine's Omar Ismail begins taekwondo medal quest at Paris 2024

UAE-based athlete takes on Hadi Tiranvalipour, representing the Refugee Olympic Team, in 58kg qualifier

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Omar Ismail's journey to the Olympics has certainly seen him clock up the air miles.

Ismail punched his ticket to Paris by winning an Asian qualifying event in China in March. In doing so, he became the first Palestinian to qualify for the Olympics in taekwondo.

To prepare for his first Games, the 18-year-old, who resides with his family in Sharjah, has taken in intense training camps in Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan and Tunisia.

The last camp in Tunisia meant Ismail missed out on joining the rest of the Palestine contingent for the Opening Ceremony on July 26, a spectacular offering that saw athletes paraded down the River Seine on boats.

Though disappointed to miss out on that occasion, Ismail's laser-like focus meant nothing would distract him from his ultimate goal: winning a gold medal in Paris.

"It's a dream. Every athlete has a goal in his life, and my goal is to reach the Olympics and get a medal," Ismail told The National in an interview before the Games. "I was very happy, very emotional, reaching the Olympics, but I wasn't fully happy, because I have only one target: win the gold medal in Paris.

"Nothing is impossible, I’ve been working very hard, and I hope I can get a gold medal. And you see me on the podium."

Ismail is studying for a degree in physiotherapy at the University of Sharjah but studies are the furthest thing from his mind in the build-up to his opening bout.

While Ismail has led a comfortable life in the UAE with his parents and three siblings, thoughts of his homeland and the horror playing out on a daily basis in Gaza are never far from his mind.

Ismail is one of only eight athletes representing Palestine in Paris, an honour he described as a "huge pride for me".

"I'm very proud to represent Palestine, specifically in this moment," Ismail said.

"We have a message to the world that Palestinian athletes have the courage, the power to reach higher levels, even though there is some problems happening there. We are trying, and we will like that the people hear us, hear our message."

His opponent in the 58kg qualifier (11.08am UAE time) is Hadi Tiranvalipour, who represents the Refugee Olympic Team.

Tiranvalipour grew up in a province near Karaj and was a member of the Iranian taekwondo team for eight years, winning multiple national and international competitions.

He publicly supported women's freedom in Iran, which did not go down well in his homeland. He was forced to flee the Iranian regime in 2022, arriving in Rome via Turkey and spending his first 10 days in Italy living in a forest.

His hardships did not end there as he was a refugee in a foreign country. The champion athlete had to wash dishes in restaurants to survive. But it was taekwondo that provided him a way out.

“When I arrived here, I didn't know anybody,” Tiranvalipour told Olympics.com. “And I told myself, ‘you only have one friend. Taekwondo is your friend.’ Taekwondo is not just a sport for me, taekwondo is my life and it gave me everything.”

He did not know how to restart his sporting journey so decided to simply ask for an opportunity, writing an email to the Italian taekwondo federation.

He went to the federation office and when he told them about his story again, they took him in. Tiranvalipour says he will forever be grateful to the Italian federation and sports minister Andrea Abodi for opening up a new pathway.