Valerie Rose Tarazi ( ar, فاليري روز ترزي; born 9 October 1999) is a Palestinian-American swimmer who represents Palestine internationally. She competed in the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 2024), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la XXXIIIe Olympiade, links=no) and also known as Paris 2024, is an upcoming international multi-sport event that is s ...

Life

Tarazi was born in Illinois, U.S., to an

Orthodox Christian Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Churche ...

family originating from

Gaza Gaza may refer to: Places Palestine * Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea ** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip ** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip Lebanon * Ghazzeh, a village in ...

, where she has relatives. She grew up in her birth state, graduating from

Prairie Ridge High School Prairie Ridge High School, often referred to as "PR," is the newest public high school in Community High School District 155 in Crystal Lake, Illinois, United States. The other three high school in the area include Crystal Lake Central, Crystal L ...

in Crystal Lake and then

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

in Alabama. She took up swimming at the age of 3. She participated in the

2023 Arab Games The 2023 Arab Sports Games was the 13th edition of the Arab Games, an international multi-sport event which will take place in Algeria, between 5 and 15 July 2023. It witnessed the participation of all the 22 Arab League members in 22 sports. F ...

held in Algeria, and won two gold, three silver, and one bronze medal, making her the highest yielding medalist in the games. She holds the Palestinian record in the 50m and 100m backstroke, 50m, 100m, and 200m breaststroke, and the 50m butterfly. She competed for

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

at the

in Paris, in the 200m medley, also serving as national flagbearer at the opening ceremony alongside boxer Wasim Abusal, as well as at the closing ceremony alongside taekwondo practicioner

Omar Yaser Ismail Omar Yaser Abdel Qader Ismail Hantoli ( ar, عمر ياسر عبد القادر إسماعيل حنتولي; born 3 November 2005), known as simply Omar Yaser Ismail or Omar Hantoli, is a Palestinian taekwondo practitioner. He qualified for the 2 ...

References

External links

* 1999 births Living people American people of Palestinian descent American female swimmers Sportspeople from Illinois Auburn University alumni Palestinian female swimmers 21st-century Palestinian sportswomen 21st-century American sportswomen Auburn Tigers athletes Auburn Tigers swimming and diving Eastern Orthodox Christians from Palestine Eastern Orthodox Christians from the United States Arab Games gold medalists Arab Games silver medalists Arab Games bronze medalists Olympic swimmers for Palestine Swimmers at the 2024 Summer Olympics People from Gaza City {{US-swimming-bio-stub