AP TELEVISION
Berlin - 11 May 2016
1. Mid of Mayada Al-Sayad putting on her running shoes
2. Al-Sayad putting on her smartwatch
3. Various of Al-Sayad stretching
4. Various of Al-Sayad running
5. Al-Sayad with her medals
6. Close of medals
7. Close of winner's trophy from Bethlehem half marathon
8. SOUNDBITE (German) Mayada Al-Sayad, running marathon for Palestine in Rio:
"Last year in Hamburg I reached the world standard for the Olympic games for Palestine, that is under than 2:42. This means I can now go to Rio for Palestine."
9. Al-Sayad running towards camera
10. SOUNDBITE (German) Mayada Al-Sayad, running Marathon for Palestine in Rio:
"I am trying to show that more Arab women should do sports, because they could do it the same as me - if they really want to and are motivated and train enough. Also I want to show Palestine in good light, because we mostly just hear bad news from there."
11. Wide of Al-Sayad training on track
Berlin - 12 May 2016
12. SOUNDBITE (German) Tobias Singer, Trainer
"Maya does not think much about other runners and the competition around her. She does it primarily for herself and this really helps her, even though she's probably not really aware of it."
Berlin - 11 May 2016
13. Wide of Al-Sayad running on track
Berlin - 12 May 2016
14. SOUNDBITE (German) Tobias Singer, Trainer:
"Nobody runs 250 kilometres in a week without a reason - there is goal behind it: to bring new personal bests and represent Palestine as well as possible."
Berlin - 11 May 2016
15. Wide of Al-Sayad running
16. Close of Al-Sayad driving
17. Wide of Mayada Al-Sayad and her mother
18. SOUNDBITE (German) Anjte Al-Sayad, mother:
"Her father is from Palestine and this small country does not have many athletes. And they only had one athlete that managed international qualification so far. But she is now the first woman who managed to qualify for Palestine. We all find this great and hope it will go well."
19. Close of Al-Sayad's Palestinian passport
20. SOUNDBITE Mayada Al-Sayad (German)
"There is also a small chance that I will be the flag bearer at the opening ceremony of Olympic Games in Rio on 5 August. This would also be a huge honour for me."
21. Close of pictures on her wall
22. Detail of pictures and newspaper article entitled (German) "Thumbs up for Maya"
23. Close of Al-Sayad looking herself in the mirror
24. Wide of her leaving the room
25. Wide of her closing the door to house
26. Wide of her leaving the house
27. Wide pan of her running outside
LEAD IN:
A German-born long distance runner is to represent Palestine in the marathon event at the Rio Olympics.
Mayada Al-Sayad shows off her medals, her trophies and tells us how she feels about her upcoming adventure.
STORY-LINE:
Sandals are put to one side and the running shoes come on.
The sports watch is set so speed and distance can be assessed.
This is Mayada Al-Sayad.
She's a long distance specialist. And while she is not all-conquering in her home country of Germany, her father's Palestinian nationality has enabled her to qualify for this summer's Olympic Games.
And having broken the qualification standard of 2 hours and 42 minutes for the 26.2 mile (42.2 kilometres) race, she will become the first woman to run the event under the Palestinian flag at an Olympic Games.
She has collected a number of medals during her career, and this year travelled to the West Bank and won the Bethlehem half marathon.
But qualification for the Rio de Janeiro games is her primary achievement.
"Last year in Hamburg I reached the world standard for the Olympic games for Palestine, that is under than 2:42. This means I can now go to Rio for Palestine," she says with obvious delight.
Her time in the April 2015 Hamburg marathon was 2:41:44.
She later improved upon that with a personal best at this year's Dubai Marathon with 2:39:48.
Al-Sayad hopes other women of Arab descent will follow in her many footsteps and also wants to be able to show Palestine in a different light.
"We mostly just hear bad news from there," she says, wearing a T-Shirt with "Palestine" emblazoned across the front.
She was born in Berlin to a German mother and Palestinian father and got her Palestinian passport in 2014.
Al-Sayad's trainer Tobias Singer says her single mindedness and lack of nerves will stand her in good stead for the Olympics.
"Nobody runs 250 kilometres in a week without a reason," he says.
Al-Sayad spends time every summer at her family house in Palestine. But now she's driving back to her German home to see her mother, who is understandably proud.
"She is now the first woman who managed to qualify for Palestine. We all find this great and hope it will go well," her mother says.
Considering the small number of athletes expected to represent the territories this summer, there is a decent chance that Al-Sayad will be the flag bearer at the opening ceremony on 5 August.
"This would also be a huge honour for me," she says.
She's not expecting to win the race in Rio, but she's hoping to improve upon the 50th place at the 2015 World Championships in Bejing.
