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In the match to determine whether he would qualify for the 2024 Olympics, Omar Ismail fell behind.

Then 17, he had practiced taekwondo for more than half his life. But it had only been about a year since he started in the 58-kilogram (128-pound) weight class of the senior division, where he squared up against opponents several years older. Now, staring at elimination in a qualifying match in Tai’in, China, Ismail felt his first chance at the Olympics slipping away.

During a pause, he gazed around the crowded arena. Took a deep breath. Felt his heart rate slow. Clapped his hands. Moving on the mat with renewed focus, he found his rhythm, bouncing on his toes, anticipating his opponent’s timing. His lean frame zipped around kicks and danced out of range, striking in precise flashes.

He came back and won the second round. In the definitive third round, he showcased the full range of talent that had made him one of his sport’s most promising contenders, winning decisively and securing his spot in Paris.

“The Olympics is a dream since I was a kid, since I started,” said Ismail, who has shaggy hair and a wry smile. “Just to reach the Olympics.”

It was an accomplishment that brought a heavier meaning than he had ever envisioned. Ismail, now 18, represents Palestine, the land his parents left before he was born, and when he rides down the Seine for the Opening Ceremonies, he will be waving a flag that has become a worldwide symbol of opposition to Israel amid the war in Gaza.

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“It is a great responsibility,” he said. “I want the whole world to see that Palestinian children have talent.”

The International Olympic Committee recognized the National Olympic Committee of Palestine as a member in 1995, clearing the way for Palestinian athletes to compete. Since long-distance runner Majed Abu Maraheel became the first in 1996, around two dozen have competed at the Games.

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In each of the past three Olympics, at least five athletes represented Palestine. This year, eight will participate, the most in history. Seven of them — Jorge Antonio Salhe in shooting, Wasim Abu Sal in boxing, Fares Badawi in judo, Layla Almasri and Mohammed Dwedar in running, and Yazan al Bawwab and Valerie Tarazi in swimming — received invitations through wild-card bids that the IOC can grant to athletes who fell short in the preliminary trials to reach the Games but come from countries with few qualifiers.

Among the delegation, Ismail is the sole member to secure a spot in Paris by winning in a qualifying competition — making him the group’s best hope to become the first Palestinian athlete to win an Olympic medal and wave the flag on the podium.

“As young as he is, he is carrying on his shoulders the story of a nation ... ,” said Nader Jayousi, technical director of the Palestinian Olympic Committee. “A person like him gives hope to a kid who has lost hope completely in Gaza.”

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In the months leading up to these Olympics, the Israel-Gaza war has erased much of the Palestinian sporting ecosystem, killing athletes and destroying facilities. An Israeli airstrike in January killed 42-year-old Hani al-Masdar, a coach of the Palestinian national soccer team and a renowned retired player. Ibrahim Qusaya, 32, and Hassan Zuaiter, 29, both volleyball players on the national team that won bronze at the West Asian beach volleyball championship in 2021, died last November when a missile struck the refugee camp they were living in.

Bilal Abu Samaan, a 31-year-old cross-country runner and national team coach, died in December while helping rescue people from the rubble of a bombed building when another bomb hit. Nagham Abu Samra, a 24-year-old national karate champion who was considered a cultural icon for opening a sports center that encouraged girls to get into athletics, suffered lung damage and lost a leg in a January explosion, then died from the injuries in an Egyptian hospital.

In June, Majed Abu Maraheel, the first Palestinian Olympian, died at 61 from kidney failure in a refugee camp in Gaza, where there was a shortage of medical help. His brother told a Lebanese news station that their family was unable to evacuate Abu Maraheel after Israel’s offensive in Rafah closed the exit route to Egypt.

Among those who made it out of Gaza was Mohammed Hamada, a 22-year-old weightlifter who competed at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021 and won gold at the junior world championships in 2022.

With food supplies cut off in Gaza, Hamada lost 35 pounds in a month, Jayousi said. After three days traveling south on foot and car to the border with Egypt, he reached Bahrain, where he resumed training 10 days before the Olympic qualifications in Thailand.

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His muscles diminished, he was unable to lift amounts he had surpassed years ago on the youth circuit. He failed to qualify.

A year ago, the Palestinian Olympic Committee had 26 athletes in its training program. But by spring, only nine athletes remained. While three of the Olympic qualifiers are from the West Bank, none are from Gaza. The others, including Ismail, grew up among the diaspora around the world.

Ismail’s parents grew up in the West Bank but immigrated to the United Arab Emirates in 2003, settling in Sharjah, where Ismail was born a few years later. When he was 9, Ismail accompanied a friend to a taekwondo class, intending to just watch. (He preferred to play soccer.) But the instructor invited him to join, and Ismail found joy in the swift movements and satisfaction in the disciplined rituals. With long limbs and sharp reflexes, he quickly excelled.

By the time he was 12, he was entering international competitions, traveling across Europe and Asia, winning gold medals, rising the rankings among his peers. When he stood victorious on podiums, it was Palestine’s green, red and black colors that he held over his head.

For most of his life, Ismail has visited relatives in the West Bank at least once a year. Growing up hearing his parents’ memories of their homeland and stories about its history, he chose to “represent the identity of the people in Palestine and their steadfastness,” he said. “I would like to be their role model. I want to give children of Palestine hope that each one of them can achieve their dreams.”

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Dominant on the youth circuit, he entered the senior division when he was 16, pitting him against opponents as old as 28. Within his first year and a half at the top level, Ismail won the Arab Cup and finished third at the Turkish Open, immediately establishing himself as an Olympic contender.

Ismail recalls watching the Tokyo Olympics three years ago and feeling inspired watching Ulugbek Rashitov, a 19-year-old taekwondo star from Uzbekistan, win gold. Now that Ismail will be the teenager debuting on that big stage, that distant inspiration has transformed into a standard within reach.

“I’m not going to be happy if I don’t get a medal in the Olympics,” he said. “I feel very proud of myself to reach the Olympics, but this is just the beginning.”

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