Fadi Aldeeb, who had a month to train in his old event, was sole Gaza-born athlete at either Paris Games

Fadi Aldeeb got the call just a month before the Paralympics began asking him to return to the shot put, an event in which he hadn’t competed in years, to be the sole Palestinian representative at the Paris Games.

“When they asked me, of course I said yes because this is my country,” said the 38-year-old wheelchair basketball player from Gaza. “This experience isn’t about me, I am the voice of millions of people, to show their goals, their hopes and their successes. This is my opportunity to show the world who we are.”