A former Auburn swimmer served as a flagbearer for Palestine during the parade of athletes at the opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics on Friday.
Valerie Tarazi joined boxer Wasim Abusal in carrying the flag of Palestine, which has an eight-athlete Olympic team.
Tarazi recently earned a master’s degree in supply-chain management from Auburn, where she got a bachelor’s in business administration while swimming for the Tigers.
While Tarazi’s X account (formerly Twitter) is full of moments on her road to the Olympics, the pinned post at the top is from Oct. 8, 2017, when she committed to Auburn. “Officially a Tiger,” it reads.
Tarazi will compete in the women’s 200-meter individual medley at the Paris Games. She was the top swimmer at the 2023 Arab Games, where she won two gold medals, three silver medals and one bronze medal.
A 24-year-old native of Chicago, Tarazi said she hoped Palestine’s Olympic participation would put a spotlight on the ongoing conflict with Israel.
“We’re not here to compete for ourselves or represent ourselves,” Tarazi told NBC News. “This is more than that. …
“I say I’m one of the luckiest Palestinians in the whole world because I’m not there. But at the same time, I’m one of the unluckiest Palestinians in the world because I can’t be there because it’s not safe enough. It weighs on all of us every single day.”
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at@AMarkG1.
