US-born Palestinian runner Layla Almasri at the Paris Games: ‘We’re diplomats as well as athletes’

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — American-born Palestinian runner Layla Almasri realizes the weight of responsibility that she and her team carry at the Paris Olympics.

It’s about far more than merely competing.

“I think I can speak for all eight of us here at the Olympics,” Almasri said after competing in the 800 meters Friday. “We’re definitely diplomats for our people as well as athletes.”

It’s a role that’s reinforced every time she turns on the TV or looks at her phone and sees images of people struggling in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war.

“Every single time. It’s really difficult to see,” Almasri said. “Mothers with my mother’s face on them. Children who look like me when I was a kid. It’s heartbreaking. And it almost feels like I was just hit with a strike of lightning, of luck, to be able to live somewhere where I don’t have to face the things that they’re facing.”

So it hardly mattered that Almasri finished last in her heat and 48th of the 49 finishers in the 800 heats — ahead of a competitor from Kosovo.

“I wasn’t even looking at the clock,” she said. “Just soaked in the moment. The crowd was really what I was focused on. And of course (I had) the best view in the house watching that race. Right on the track.”

After her father left Nablus for Colorado, Almasri was born and raised in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Last year, she earned a master’s degree in health promotion from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, where she’s now an assistant coach for the women’s cross-country team.

She grew up eating Palestinian food and always has felt connected to her father’s homeland.

“It’s in my blood and it’s in my heart,” said Almasri, who won a bronze medal in the 1,500 at the Arab athletics championships last year.

Almasri first visited Nablus two years ago.

“It was beautiful,” she said. “It was home. All my cousins, all my aunts and uncles are there. So I just immediately fit right in.”

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Palestine Olympic Committee president Jibril Rajoub has said about 400 athletes of varying levels are estimated to have died since October. The war began after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing approximately 1,200. The war has killed more than 39,200 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.

Perhaps the most prominent Palestinian athlete to die in the war was long-distance runner Majed Abu Maraheel, who in 1996 in Atlanta became the first Palestinian to compete in the Olympics. He died of kidney failure earlier this year after he was unable to be treated in Gaza and could not be evacuated to Egypt, Palestinian officials said.

“We have a guy I raced with last year who’s been stuck in Gaza,” Almasri said. “He’s very talented and he’s still in Gaza.”

The attention on the Palestine team has been big inside the athletes village.

“Everybody wants a pin. We’re stopped for photos in the dining hall constantly,” Almasri said. “It’s really incredible to see how many people are really surprised to see us and happy to see us.”

There is no extra security for the Palestinians.

“Fortunately, we don’t need it and we don’t have any,” Almasri said. “We’re really lucky to have such a positive environment to be in.”

Have the Palestinians crossed paths with members of the Israeli team?

“We see them, but it’s just business as usual,” Almasri said. “We’re focused on ourselves and we’re sure they’re focused as well.”

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games