Gaza Sunbirds, the Palestinian para-cyclist's dream of the Games
He raced in Italy and Kazakhstan, where he became the first Palestinian athlete to qualify for the Uci World Para-cycling Championships, but was denied the chance to compete in the Paris Games. Alaa is now back in the saddle, training again. After all, he thinks, Los Angeles is four years away: time to improve and become the first Palestinian paracyclist at the Paralympic Games
2' min read
2' min read
The Gaza Sunbirds are a para-cycling team from Gaza, founded in 2020 by cyclist Alaa al-Dali.
It was the days of the Great March of Return, it was 2018. Alaa, like many friends, marches demanding the right to return and suddenly sees above his head a cloud of dust and his leg burn.
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The desperate rush to hospital, the disbelief of the doctors who could do nothing but amputate his leg. And Alaa, who had been a member of the Palestinian national cycling team, with his leg also lost his dream of running and flying. But then the force of life was stronger and with a group of friends they founded the Sunbirds: 'We wanted to be as free as birds and fly,' he recalls.
They begin to train, they dream of the Paralympic Games. They struggle, even bikes are missing in the devastation of Rafah. From war-torn Palestinian territory he arrives in Belgium, he is hosted by a rehabilitation centre where he is classified according to his disability. He meets many men and women in the same condition, physical and moral. He finds support and the dream of representing Palestine is even stronger.
Meanwhile, since 7 October, if possible, the situation is even more dramatic. Alaa in Belgium, his family in Rafah under the bombs. He looks for races to qualify: the rules are strict for everyone.
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