Palestinian citizen of Israel wins second gold at Paralympics

Palestinian citizen of Israel Iyad Shalabi won gold in the men’s 50-metre backstroke in the S1 category in Tokyo today.

He beat Ukrainian Anton Kol, who finished second with a time of 1:13.78. Italian Francesco Bettella finished third.

Shalabi already won gold in the men’s 100-metre backstroke in the same category on the first day of the games.

The Palestinian citizen of Israel lives in Shfaram in northern Israel and trains in Haifa. He was born deaf and was later paralysed in his lower body following an accident at the age of 13.

His medals mark the first for an Arab-Israeli citizen in the Olympics or Paralympics.

Meeting Palestine’s Olympic heroes: Hanna Barakat