Olympian Valerie Tarazi is proud to swim for her nation.
It was a dream of hers since she was a baby watching the Olympics as a fan, stated Tarazi, 24. Nonetheless, the Crystal Lake native didn’t swim for the US, the place she was born and raised, however was one among eight athletes who competed for Palestine.
She positioned thirty second when she competed on the Olympics in Paris this summer time and set a brand new private greatest within the 200-meter particular person medley. Tarazi was one of many flag-bearers for the opening and shutting ceremonies and continues to make use of her publicity on the Olympics to advertise a message of peace.
“It was the most important honor carrying the flag on my shoulder and representing the thousands and thousands of Palestinians on the earth,” she stated.
Tarazi’s Palestinian heritage comes from her paternal grandfather, who was born in Gaza, she stated. Her roots go even additional again, although. The Tarazi household is likely one of the oldest Christian households in Palestine, she stated, and he or she has traced her ties all the way in which to the yr 400.
The Worldwide Olympic Committee was “very inclusive” and allowed Tarazi to swim for Palestine as soon as she certified, she stated. Athletes from Gaza had been absent from the Summer time Video games due to Israel’s ongoing bombardment in Gaza, which was triggered by Hamas’ lethal Oct. 7 assault in Israel and has induced large dying and destruction within the territory. However two of the eight Palestinian athletes had been from the West Financial institution.
IOC members “know that conditions are completely different all world wide, so after I acquired the chance to characterize Palestine, I completely wished to honor my household and that’s simply type of the way it labored out,” Tarazi stated.
Her father was baptized on the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Porphyrius in Gaza, which is likely one of the oldest church buildings on the earth, Tarazi stated. Some members of the family nonetheless in Gaza had been sheltering in that church when it was bombed, they usually died within the harm, she stated. Communication with the family members who’re left in Palestine is “out and in,” Tarazi stated, as they’re totally on the transfer and with out cell service.
“We’re very near Palestine,” Tarazi stated. “Sure, I used to be born and raised in the US, however once you’re Palestinian, you’re Palestinian. It doesn’t go away.”
For Tarazi, the struggle “hit very near house in a short time.”
“I had associates caught there,” she stated. “I had household caught there. I had teammates caught there. Inside a month of the struggle, I misplaced people who had been very near me.”
Tarazi first competed for Palestine internationally in July 2023 on the Arab Video games in Algeria, which occur each 4 years just like the Olympics however are held for Arab nations. Tarazi received two gold medals, three silver medals and one bronze medal on the Arab Video games.
“I took the chance each competitors I went to and acquired to lift the flag for Palestine,” Tarazi stated.
Tarazi then swam for Palestine on the Asian Video games in China in September 2023 and wrapped up shortly earlier than the Oct. 7 assault that plunged the area into struggle. She stated she left the Asian Video games initially of October with a few of her teammates, however half of the Palestinian delegation was nonetheless in China on Oct. 7, and lots of had been caught there.
Of those who made it again to Palestine simply days earlier than Oct. 7, some have died, others are injured and much more want to escape as dying and destruction proceed almost one yr later, she stated. A good friend of Tarazi’s who’s a observe and discipline athlete is in contact along with her incessantly, however he’s caught in Rafah, she stated, nonetheless “attempting to get out.”
One other good friend who was a seashore volleyball participant died in a bombing in Gaza earlier on within the struggle, she stated. Bilal Abu Samaan, a observe and discipline coach from Gaza who Tarazi stated was “one of the vital liked coaches in all of Palestine,” died in an airstrike in December.
“You hear tales like this, and it’s only one after one other,” Tarazi stated. “Each Palestinian athlete has a narrative like that.”
Tarazi was capable of go to Palestine earlier than the Olympics started in July. She stated she went to Ramallah for a couple of days, the place the French consulate gave athletes a sendoff, and he or she acquired to talk on the occasion. She stated she additionally filmed a swimming documentary whereas there and “acquired to only stroll round and luxuriate in for a minute.”
“It was one thing that was so particular,” she stated. “It was very eye-opening, however it was very heartwarming to be again house and to only be with the individuals and really feel the tradition. I went into Paris feeling prepared after that.”
Tarazi’s first time visiting her grandfather’s homeland was in August 2023 when she took a two-week journey along with her household. They frolicked in Jerusalem and Ramallah and traveled across the West Financial institution. Whereas there, Tarazi met with Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Nationwide Authority.
Tarazi’s father, Martin Tarazi, was born in Evanston to a Palestinian father and a Caucasian mom. Tarazi’s mom, Jana, is initially from Crystal Lake and likewise Caucasian.
Swimming has at all times been a “love and fervour” for Valerie Tarazi, Jana Tarazi stated, however her daughter additionally understood that not everybody had the privilege of having the ability to take part.
“She wished to be part of the Palestinian workforce,” Jana Tarazi stated. “Her want for sport and eager to be part of one thing larger, and now that she is an Olympian, I feel she’s displaying the world what is feasible.”
For Tarazi, utilizing the platform she has been given to convey the message of peace will at all times be a high precedence.
“Individuals are listening due to the stage she’s on,” Jana Tarazi stated. “Her objective is to assist in disaster or humanitarian conditions, getting provides in and amenities rebuilt, and in the end, she desires each baby to have a spot to play and participate in sports activities.”
Tarazi graduated from Prairie Ridge Excessive Faculty in Crystal Lake in 2018, moved to Alabama to attend Auburn College and has been there since. She acquired her bachelor’s diploma in 2022 and a grasp’s diploma in 2024, each in provide chain administration. She plans to get her PhD subsequent, she stated.
She selected Auburn College, she stated, due to its status as “one of many blue bloods of swimming.”
“I used to be one of many high recruits from my class, so for probably the most half I acquired to decide on the place I went,” Tarazi stated.
Her mother and father nonetheless stay in Crystal Lake, and he or she stated she visits a couple of occasions a yr however is finding out and coaching in Auburn. She has an older brother in dental faculty at Southern Illinois College.
Tarazi has been competing on the junior nationwide degree since she was 14, however she began swimming lengthy earlier than that at Crystal Lake Nation Membership on the age of three. She stated by the point she was 12, she was swimming twice a day and competing often.
“I competed for my highschool and was on lots of completely different membership groups,” Tarazi stated. “I simply discovered a love for swimming, and I caught with it.”
Her stroke specialty relies on the season, she stated. She competed within the 200-meter particular person medley in Paris, which has athletes finishing 50 meters within the pool in every of 4 strokes: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle.
“I’m a really well-versed swimmer,” Tarazi stated. “I swim something from dash to mid-distance in all strokes, so it actually simply relies on the day,” she stated with amusing.
Her favourite stroke “by far” is breaststroke. Amongst her many accolades, she was an Illinois Excessive Faculty Affiliation state champ for the 100-yard breaststroke within the 2015-16 faculty yr and a U.S. nationwide champion within the 50-meter breaststroke in 2017.
With Auburn, she positioned first within the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke on the Conflict Eagle Invitational in the course of the 2022-23 faculty yr.
After wrapping up in Paris, she headed again to the States feeling “so grateful” and able to get again to high school and coaching. She is now making ready for the World Championships in Budapest in December and beginning analysis for her PhD program, which is about humanitarian provide chain administration and delivering support to areas like Palestine, Ukraine and Sudan.
“Nobody desires struggle, nobody desires battle,” Tarazi stated. “We simply wish to stay in peace in Palestine and in the remainder of the world, however that hasn’t been a actuality. I feel that’s one thing arduous to do.”