Published: 6 July 2020
Last updated: 4 March 2024
MUCH INK HAS BEEN spilled on the deep disappointment of athletes who had trained hard for years, looking forward to competing in this summer’s Tokyo Olympics, but then had their dreams put on hold when the Games were postponed until 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Cross-country runner Jamal Abdelmaji Eisa Mohammed feels as disappointed as any of them – but he dismisses the letdown with a sunny smile and a “What can you do?” shrug.
The Sudanese asylum seeker and member of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team says he has endured so much in his 23 years that being forced to wait a year to become an Olympian hardly seems reason to complain.
“When you see terrible things happen to you at a young age – things that are really much harder than what you might be going through at the moment – and you made it through them, it makes it easier to overcome obstacles.
“You know you’ll get through these things too,” says the wiry young man, speaking to Haaretz in the main sitting room of the small south Tel Aviv home that serves as headquarters for the Alley Runners Athletic Club.
FULL STORY This Sudanese asylum seeker from Tel Aviv could be competing in next year's Olympics (Haaretz)
Photo: Jamal Mohammed. “When you see terrible things happen to you at a young age and you made it through them, it makes it easier to overcome obstacles (Meged Gozani)
