Arab athletes can stand proud after Paris Olympics 2024 performance

Seven golds among 17 medals show that sport is booming in the Middle East and North Africa

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Well before the Paris 2024 Olympics had started, athletes were predicting these Games would be different.

Repeat Olympians were excited about competing in front of fans once again, after performing in front of empty stands at the pandemic-affected Tokyo 2020.

For Arabs, Paris 2024 was different, but not just because of the atmosphere.

Under the shadow of the horrific war in Gaza, these Games gave Palestinians a voice and a platform. Eight athletes represented Palestine in swimming, taekwondo, boxing, athletics, judo, and shooting.

In taekwondo, Omar Ismail won his qualification bout in the -58kg category before falling to the division’s second seed in the round of 16. On the track, Layla Almasri set a new national record in the 800m heats. In the pool, Yazan Al Bawwab dove into the water with the Palestinian flag not just on his swim cap but also tattooed on his chest.

“I'm one of eight people [competing for Palestine at the Olympics]. We have 15 million Palestinians scattered around the world. I'm just one that's able to be here to represent a voice of the people that are not heard,” Al Bawwab told France 24 after his event.

“Sports is one of those tools that I'm trying to use to get the humanity out of the world, because we're not treated as human beings right now.”

Elsewhere, Algerian boxer Imane Khelif found herself embroiled in a fight that extended well beyond the ring. The 25-year-old clinched welterweight gold in unimaginable circumstances. Misgendered, disrespected, and unfairly scrutinised, Khelif was the subject of an enormous amount of abuse but rose above it all to make history as the first Algerian, African, and Arab woman to win boxing gold at an Olympic Games.

“I sent them a message with this gold medal, and I say my dignity has been restored and my honour is above anything else,” she said after her victory.

Khelif handled the firestorm with such grace, and walked away a champion in and out of the ring. Her experience raises important questions about misinformation and cyber bullying, and her decision to take legal action against her online attackers can hopefully lead to much-needed change in the social media space.

Khelif was one of seven gold medallists from the Arab world in Paris – which is the highest tally for athletes representing Arab countries at any Olympic Games.

France-born Algerian Kaylia Nemour made history at just 17 years of age, becoming Africa’s first-ever Olympic medallist in gymnastics with a gold-medal effort in uneven bars.

Tunisia’s Firas Katoussi cemented the Arab world’s status as a rising force in taekwondo, his gold in -80kg being one of three medals scooped by Mena athletes in the sport. Jordan’s Zaid Kareem clinched silver in -68kg, while Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi made the podium once again in -58kg, this time taking bronze.

Jendoubi wasn’t the only Arab to become a multiple-time Olympic medallist – a sign that many of the athletes from the region are firmly establishing themselves on the global sports map and aren’t one-time wonders or fluke champions.

Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali successfully defended his gold medal in 3,000m steeplechase, coming from behind to make a late charge and secure first place in a difficult race at the Stade de France.

Egypt’s Ahmed Elgendy set a world record of 1,555 points to top the podium in modern pentathlon, three years after he won silver in Tokyo to become Africa’s first Olympic medallist in the sport.

Competing in his final Games, Qatar’s Mutaz Barshim became the most decorated high jumper in Olympic history, securing his legacy with a fourth Olympic medal – a bronze to go with the gold he won in Tokyo and the two silvers he scooped in Rio 2016 and London 2012.

No athlete has ever won four Olympic high jump medals. The 33-year-old did a lap of honour on Saturday, fittingly wearing a crown on his head.

“My feelings of pride today are beyond words,” Barshim wrote on Instagram.

“I had the honor of raising my country’s flag in four Olympic Games, earning four medals. With this Olympic Games, I conclude my Olympic journey, and I am truly happy to have stood on the podium in all my participations.”

Egyptian weightlifter Sara Ahmed won the silver medal in 81kg, eight years after she clinched bronze in Rio as an 18-year-old. She briefly held the Olympic record in clean and jerk on Saturday before Norway’s Solfrid Koanda rebroke it to secure the gold.

A telling moment came after the weightlifting competition was over as Ahmed broke into tears, not of joy, but in agony over missing out on the gold.

Her journey in the sport saw her go through a two-year ban along with all weightlifters from her country as well as the Egyptian Weightlifting Federation, which forced her to miss Tokyo 2020. When she returned to action, she won gold at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships and arrived in Paris adamant on topping the podium.

Her reaction to settling for silver spoke volumes of her champion’s mentality, one that she shares with many of the Arab athletes who fell short at these Games.

You could see it on the face of Jordanian taekwondo practitioner Rama Abo Alrub, who came close to upsetting Turkish No 1 seed Nafia Kus and fell to the ground in despair when she lost their close bout in the quarter-finals.

The same goes for Dunya Abutaleb, who battled for bronze but lost to the No 7 seed in taekwondo’s -49kg division, missing out on a chance to become Saudi Arabia’s first female Olympic medallist.

“This is not the end of the road, this is just the beginning,” Abutaleb wrote on Instagram, committing to a new journey towards the LA 2028 Olympics. “I now close the chapter on the last four years and start today on the road for the next four years.”

But even in disappointment, one can sense a shift in the direction sport in the Arab world is heading. Athletes are no longer satisfied by just qualifying for the Olympics. They want medals and podiums. They believe they can contend with the very best and are devastated when they fall short.

The Arab contingent claimed a total of 17 medals in nine different sports in Paris. There’s enough reason to believe we can expect much more to come in four years’ time.

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