Ramallah, Palestine, March 14, 2024: Palestine will be represented by three taekwondo athletes at the Asian qualification tournament for the Paris 2024 Olympics in Tai’an, China from March 15-16.
Mayar Kabha, Omar Hantouli and Ahmed Bahloul will bid to win one of 16 quotas available for Paris, and earn a historic berth at the Olympic Games in taekwondo.
All three have trained overseas for the Asian Olympic qualifier – Kabha underwent two training camps in Jordan and Egypt, while Hantouli and Bahloul trained in Kazakhstan.
Kabha will compete in the women's -49kg category while Hantouli takes part in the men's -58kg class and Bahloul in the men's -68kg.
Dr. Bashir Abdel Gawad, President of the Palestine Taekwondo Federation, expressed his hopes that Palestine would qualify for the first time in taekwondo at the Olympics.
The President of the Palestine Olympic Committee, Jibril Rajoub, thanked the taekwondo federation for supporting the athletes during the Olympic preparation programme and removing all obstacles in the way of them attempting to accomplish their dreams.
A total of 94 athletes will be vying for the precious quotas. There will be four men’s and four women’s weight categories at the Asian qualifier.
Among the favourites to earn an Olympic berth are Hangzhou Asian Games gold medallist and hometown hero Song Zhaoxiang (men’s +80kg) and Filipino Tokyo Olympian Kurt Barbosa (-58kg), a three-time Southeast Asian Games champion.
In the women’s competition, two-time Olympian Cansel Deniz (+67kg) is one of the most experienced fighters in the tournament. Kim Yu-jin (-57kg) is the sole entry from Korea. The 2013 world champion is seeking to qualify for her first Olympics.