Zakiya Nassar

Zakiya Nassar, sometimes spelled "Zakia" (Arabic: زكية نصار‎), born April 2, 1987 in Bethlehem, Palestine),[1] is an Olympic swimmer from Palestine.[2]

Zakia Nassar
Personal information
Full nameZakiya Nassar
Nationality Palestine
Born (1987-04-02) April 2, 1987
Bethlehem, Palestine
Height1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle

She represented Palestine at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In the lead-up to the Games, her coach, relayed by the media, commented that Nassar faced severe difficulties in training, due to her lack of access to a swimming pool. The Globe and Mail reported that "[t]here is no Olympic-sized pool in the Palestinian territories and no budget to speak of for the Palestinian Olympic swimmers".[1] Nassar told the media that she was receiving no support from the Palestinian authorities, that she was able to swim once a month "at best", and that she feared a disastrous performance in Beijing.[3][4] The Israeli authorities subsequently granted her authorisation to swim in a pool in Jerusalem.[5]

Nassar won her heat in the 50 metre freestyle event, but her time of 31.97 was not sufficient for her to advance to the next round.[6]

Nassar lives in Bethlehem and, as of 2008, was studying dentistry at the Arab American University in Jenin.[1]

References
  1. "For Palestinian swimmers, it's a chance to swim", Globe and Mail, July 7, 2008
  2. Nassar's bio from the 2008 Olympics website; retrieved 2009-07-09.
  3. "JEUX OLYMPIQUES: Les Palestiniens à rude épreuve", Courier international
  4. "From Jenin to Beijing", Ynetnews, April 5, 2008
  5. "Palestinian Olympic runner receives exit permit", Ynetnews, April 8, 2008
  6. "Beijing's youngest is leader of the laggards" Archived 2008-09-08 at the Wayback Machine, Reuters, August 15, 2008


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.