Omar Yaser Ismail took part in the Olympic taekwondo tournament of the 2024 Olympic Games on Wednesday, August 7, in the under 58 kilos category. The taekwondo athlete won his qualifying bout before narrowly losing in the round of 16. The Palestinian representative received a standing ovation from the audience.
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From our special correspondent at the Grand Palais,
Two weeks after the start of the first tests of the JO 2024taekwondo came into play on August 7. After hosting fencing duels between July 27 and August 4, the Grand Palais now serves as a theater for the South Korean martial art.
THE taekwondo is one of the six sports in which athletes representing Palestine take part. These Paris Games are the first in which Palestine sends at least one taekwondo athlete (out of the eight athletes competing in six sports: athletics, boxing, judo, shooting, swimming and therefore taekwondo). The pioneer is an 18-year-old young man named Omar Yaser Ismail.
The Palestinian started his tournament well. In the under 58 kilos, he won 2 rounds to 0 (4-3, 5-0) against the Iranian Hadi Tiranvalipour, who was fighting under the banner of the Olympic Refugee Team.
“The real heroes are the children of Palestine and Gaza”
In the stands, a bit of tension related to the geopolitical situation arose, between on one side the Israeli supporters came to support an Israeli taekwondo athlete, and on the other the supporters of Omar Yaser Ismail. We looked each other up and down, with Israeli and Palestinian flags, before tempers calmed down and the temperature dropped.
After winning his first fight, Omar Yaser Ismail spoke to Agence France Presse. All this is for Palestine. It is true that we play and fight, but the real heroes are the children of Palestine and the children of Gaza. ” said the taekwondo practitioner, ten months to the day after the Hamas attack in Israel and the start of the Israeli army’s offensive in the Palestinian territories. A conflict that has already left more than 35,000 dead in the Gaza Strip.
Standing ovation
Omar Yasel Ismail returned to the fighting area shortly after to compete in his round of 16. Facing him, he had a client of a completely different caliber in the person of Adrian Vicente Yunta, bronze medalist at the last world championships. The Spaniard won the first round 8-3. But in the second, the Palestinian thought he had made the difference. With 15 seconds left in this second round, he took the lead 5-3, then 6-3 with 10 seconds to go. But Vicente Yunta found a way to score again to win 2 rounds to 0 and avoid a third decisive round.
For Omar Yasel Ismail, this end of the fight was difficult to accept. In rage, the taekwondo practitioner hit the ground with his fist, unable to hide his emotion. The Grand Palais saluted his courage and his performance with an ovation, and Adrian Vicente Yunta stayed a few moments with him to congratulate him. The applause continued as Ismail left the room.
“He represented us well”
Behind the scenes, the Palestinian stopped at the microphone of Martin Guez for RFI. What an incredible audience! I thank them. There were many people who supported Palestine in the stands, I saw several flags. (…) I don’t care if Israel is here. It’s just sport, everyone wants to hold their country’s flag high, that’s all ” he confided.
Adel, a Palestinian born in Gaza and living in Jordan, came to Paris to support Omar Yasel Ismail: “ He did a great job and represented us well. The Palestinian cause is the most important in the world right now. I saw that there was a little tension in the stands. Everyone brought out their flag, but everyone respects each other. We are here for sport. And we are here to defend our cause. I hope our voices will be heard all over the world. »
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