On Oct. 6 last year, Palestinian karate champion Mais Elbostami went to bed thrilled after winning a competition in the Gaza Strip. She awoke the next day to a different world.
“I’d won first place,” the shy 18-year-old said from a Cairo suburb, where her family lives after escaping the war and where she is training in the hope to one day represent her country internationally.
She said she “hadn’t even hung up the medals” she won that day before Hamas militants launched an unprecedented attack on Israel resulting in the deaths of 1,195 people, a tally based on Israeli figures showed.
Photo: AFP
Immediately, she and her family fled south from their home in the northern Gaza Strip as Israel launched a relentless retaliatory military campaign.
Over the past nine months, the war has reduced much of the besieged Palestinian territory to rubble and killed more than 38,000 people, Gaza’s health ministry said.
Amid the hell of bombing and displacement, “every hour that passed felt like it aged you by a year,” Elbostami said.
Death was all around her.
“In the first 10 days alone, I lost my coach Jamal al-Khairy, and his granddaughter who used to train with me,” she said.
When the family made it to the Egyptian capital in April, Elbostami had two things on her mind: making sure relatives back home were safe, and getting back to her karate training.
Despite being trapped in Gaza, Palestinian national team coach Hassan al-Raiy put her in touch with the Egyptian team, and within two weeks she was back on the mat.
“My coaches here in Egypt have practically adopted me, and they’re working with me so I can get good enough to compete in the next championships,” she said.
Whenever she can, she spars on the mat, but with limited resources and gym time, Elbostami has also had to train in the streets and gardens around her house.
“Training back home was different. Every Friday my teammates and I would go and train by the sea,” she said.
Karate’s strong focus on discipline and self-control has helped the young karateka to “detach from reality” — living as a refugee from a brutal war — even for a little while.
“My emotions sometimes get the best of me. There are times I can’t get through a full session” without remembering “fleeing on foot as airstrikes fell all around us,” she said.
Elbostami tries to focus on her goal — “to represent my country and raise its flag in international competitions.”
She has a long way to go, and her first stop on that journey is Egypt’s own national championships next month.
“It’s a tough challenge,” she said, because Egyptian karate athletes have historically outperformed their Palestinian counterparts, “but it will bring my level up, too.”
Elbostami’s Egyptian coach, Mamdouh Salem, said that the teenager was an “athlete with a lot of potential, dedication and persistence.”
“We’re working on her technique, but ultimately karate is more a game of skill than talent — I expect Mais will excel,” he said.
He said he wants to help her raise the Palestinian flag around the world.
“If we can’t fight with them” in Gaza, “we can at least help them represent their country abroad,” he said, echoing widespread Egyptian solidarity with the Palestinian cause.
Her Gazan teammates, coaches and most of her relatives might remain trapped in Gaza — and she said dozens of them have been killed — but against all odds, Elbostami has survived.
“So I don’t have any excuse to keep me from achieving my goal,” she said. “I’ll do everything I can to highlight the Palestinian cause. Every championship and every time I represent Palestine, it’s for my country, for the martyrs and for the wounded.”
Juventus on Sunday stopped Inter from replacing SSC Napoli at the top of Serie A by beating their fierce rivals 1-0 and moving into the UEFA Champions League positions. Francisco Conceicao made sure that Napoli would stay two points ahead of reigning champions Inter by classily tucking home the winning goal 16 minutes before the end of an entertaining contest in Turin. Portugal attacker Conceicao netted his fourth goal of the season in all competitions after brilliant work from Randal Kolo Muani to give Juve a third straight league win. Juve are in fourth place on 46 points, ahead on goal-difference from SS
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
‘SETTING THE TONE’: Donovan Mitchell said that their determination to dominate had nothing to do with past results, but was about a potential post-season clash The Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday boosted their NBA-best record with a 142-105 romp past the New York Knicks, tightening their grip on the Eastern Conference lead with an all-around dominant display. Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points to lead six Cavs players to score in double figures, connecting on five of seven three-pointers as Cleveland drilled 19 from beyond the arc. “I think the biggest thing was just try to set the tone early,” Mitchell said, adding that the determination to dominate had nothing to do with the Knicks’ first-round playoff win over the Cavs two seasons ago and everything to do with
RSS