Features

Mohammad Abu Jamous, Palestine’s sports champion and a member of the Palestinian team to

take part in the Olympics Athena 2004 was among the 15 people killed in the Israeli

invasion of Shaja’iya and Rafah last week.

Abu Jamous was born in 1981 and grew up

in Rafah refugee camp. He was the leading Palestinian weight champion and was chosen among

several to take part in the Olympics, which are to be held in the Greek capital this

August.

Abu Jamous was a leading Palestinian sportsman and has a long list of

achievements and titles.

Abu Jamous came from a poor family that lives in a refugee

camp in Rafah and supported his family. He became a member of the youth sports club in

Rafah when he was 16 years old when he won the 1500-meter race in the Gaza Strip. He won

the gold medal for the 3000-meter race when he was under 20 years old and represented

Palestine in a race held in Portugal in the year 2000. He then became one of the top 100

world champions under the age of 20 years.

He was sent to Egypt to take part in

the Arab championships that were held in Sa’id Port and won the gold medal for the 5000-

meter race.

Abu Jamous had great hopes of becoming a world champion. He was sent to

Saudi Arabia to be trained in professional clubs and was then sent to Morocco during the

summer of 2001 for three months for training as the best Palestinian long distance runner.

He trained in the Zamalik Egyptian sports club in May 2002 where he won the gold meral for

the 5000-meter where he also broke the Palestinian record for under 20 years by (52.14

minutes).

He received several offers after this victory from the Zamalik Club.

However, he received the news that his cousin, also a sportsman was killed in Rafah and he

left Cairo immediately.