'Christians and Muslims have so much in common'

The US-born swimmer Valerie Tarazi discusses her pride at representing Palestine at the Islamic Solidarity Games and being a flagbearer at Paris 2024

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During last summer’s Paris Olympic Games, Palestine’s flagbearer Valerie Tarazi couldn’t walk through the Athletes’ Village without being hassled, “to the point where it was actually an issue,” the swimmer recalls.

The reason was unusual. Every nation at the Games had its own unique pin badge and, for athletes living in the Olympic Village, collecting all 200-odd was one way to pass the time. It became a popular game, and it turned athletes of the smallest nations into minor celebrities, with a limited number of rare pins to give away.

“We were actually getting annoyed,” she laughs. “Because Palestine’s pins were so sought-after, we had people bombarding us all the time. And I was just trying to walk to do something, to go eat – like, I’m trying to eat, stop asking me for pins!”

Tarazi has a beaming smile and wears the Palestinian flag with pride, often using her body as a canvas for face paint and nail varnish, so perhaps it is not surprising that she felt the love wherever she went in Paris. She tells a story of making friends with members of the New Zealand women’s rugby team in the Village food hall. After New Zealand won their gold medal match, the players phoned Tarazi from their party bus.

“I got a call at 10.30 at night saying, ‘Val, we just won, you’ve got to come celebrate with us.’ I was like, ‘What?! I race in 36 hours, I cannot go out right now.’” So the Kiwis came and met her at 7am the next morning. “The whole team came, dressed in full gear, they had their gold medals around their necks and they gave me their game-winning jersey, all signed. And when I raced my race, I got a video afterwards of them all sitting on a bus watching me swim.”

Tarazi is speaking to