Sanna Abubkheet ( ar, سناء أبو بخيت; born December 7, 1984 in

Deir al-Balah Deir al-Balah or Deir al Balah ( ar, دير البلح, , Monastery of the Date Palm) is a Palestinian city in the central Gaza Strip and the administrative capital of the Deir el-Balah Governorate. It is located over south of Gaza City. The ci ...

) is a retired female Palestinian middle-distance runner, who specialized in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

. Abubkheet qualified for the Palestinian squad in the women's 800 metres at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

by receiving a wild card entry slot from

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

. Running against seven other athletes in heat three, Abubkheet crossed the finish line by more than half a minute behind leader and top medal favorite

Kelly Holmes Dame Kelly Holmes (born 19 April 1970) is a retired British middle distance athlete. Holmes specialised in the 800 metres and 1,500 metres events and won gold medals for both distances at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. She set Briti ...

of Great Britain with a seventh-place time in 2:32.10. Abubkheet failed to advance into the semifinals as she placed farther from two automatic slots for the next round and ranked no. 42 overall in the prelims. Building a historic milestone as the first female athlete from Gaza Strip to compete at the Olympics, Abubkheet was appointed by the

Palestine Olympic Committee The Palestine Olympic Committee ( ar, اللجنة الأولمبية الفلسطينية) is the National Olympic Committee of the State of Palestine. The State of Palestine has been recognized as a member of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) s ...

to carry the nation's flag in the opening ceremony.

References

External links

* 1984 births Living people Palestinian female middle-distance runners Olympic athletes for Palestine Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics {{Palestine-athletics-bio-stub People from Deir al-Balah