5. Palestinian swimmer Mary al-Atrash refused to travel to Israel to train
Twenty-two-year-old Palestinian swimmer Mary al-Atrash was given the royal media treatment about her struggles to find a pool big enough in which to prepare for Rio. Canadian Broadcast Corp. lamented, “There is no Olympic-sized swimming pool in the Palestinian territories that Palestinians are allowed to use, so Atrash practices at the YMCA in Beit Sahour, near Bethlehem. The pool is 25 meters long, half the length of the facility she’ll compete in at Rio.”
However, Israeli officials stated on Facebook that al-Atrash refused to apply for a travel permit to Israel so she could use their facilities. There were several full-sized pools available to al-Atrash within the Palestinian territories, according to Liel Liebovitz of Tablet Magazine.
H/T The Federalist