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Feature: Gaza paralympian struggles to win a medal in Rio

Xinhua, August 31, 2016 Adjust font size:

Palestinian paralympian Hossam Azzam left Gaza Tuesday with Israeli permission to participate in the coming Rio 2016 Paralympics.

Amid very poor conditions, wheelchair-bound Azzam spent several hours every day in training for the upcoming 2016 Paralympics in Brazil.

The 39-year-old is Palestine's sole athlete who has qualified for the Paralympic Games to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from Sept.7-18.

Paralyzed by a childhood illness, Azzam lives in an impoverished refugee camp. Training to compete for a medal in the shot put competitions, Azzam receives his training sessions at a sandy pitch that makes his preparations even more difficult.

The tools and equipment Azzam uses are very primitive and do not meet the international standards. The chair and the metal balls are all homemade and old.

"I only have two balls and the playground is sandy which is against the international standards and the trainings are not up to date because of the lack of training equipment," Azzam said as he held a rusty ball during the training.

Azzam's career is rich of achievements as he won a bronze medal in Sydney Paralympics in 2000 and a silver medal in Athens Paralympics in 2004.

Azzam and his colleagues complain that the government ignores their success and barely provides them with least they may need for an appropriate training.

"We almost have nothing. There are no capabilities for training and we lack most of the equipment and this may demoralize the athlete," Azzam's coach Mohammed Dahman said.

"We use very primitive ways to overcome the difficulties and the lack of training equipment...I hope we can leave soon to the closed camp in Tunisia to have professional training," he added.

Despite all these disadvantages, Azzam is still eager to train and win a medal in international competitions.

His colleagues and coaches say that such conditions make him even more determined to make all the way to Brazil to harvest as much medals as he can.

Among Palestinian athletes in Gaza, Azzam is the best example that disability cannot be a setback, rather a motivation to improve lives. Endit