Ramallah, Palestine, October 16, 2024: Palestine’s Maryam Amin Basharat returned home to a hero’s welcome after she became the new world karate champion in the Female 61+ kg category at the 2024 World Cadet, Junior and U21 Championships in Venice-Jesolo, Italy last week.
“Palestine’s pride returns home,” declared the Palestine Olympic Committee on social media, welcoming Maryam home on Tuesday, October 15.
Maryam, 21, scored a 2-0 victory over Egypt’s Roaa Mohamed in the final of the World Cadet Championships to create a milestone in the history of Palestinian karate.
An unbeaten run in Venice underlined her reputation as a rising karate star. Maryam topped her preliminary group defeating competitors from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Switzerland and Belgium. In the semi-finals she defeated an opponent from Italy before storming through in the final.
Maryam is part of a Palestine Olympic Committee programme supporting talented athletes to achieve results at international level and has been earmarked as a potential medal-winner at the 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar.
