Ramallah, Jerusalem, Palestine. April 12th, 2013.
1. 00:00 Maher Abu Rmeileh on his motorbike heading to the sports training centre.
2. 00:18 SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Maher Abu Rmeileh, Palestinian athlete.
"Of course my dream is to take part in the Olympics held in Brazil four years from now. Then I will work on coaching the Palestinian national team to enable him to achieve Olympic medals, not only national and international medals."
3. 00:36 Abu Rmeileh opening the door of the training centre in Ramallah.
4. 00:43 Abu Rmeileh putting on his training Judo suit.
5. 01:00 SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Maher Abu Rmeileh, Palestinian athlete
"I started practising when I was five years old. My father was a Judo coach and he used to take me with him to training until I took part in the Junior championships and I stood out from all other athletes due to my exceptional talent."
6. 01:11 Abu Rmeileh training with team-mates.
7. 01:16 Various training shots.
8. 01:29 SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Maher Abu Rmeileh, Palestinian athlete.
"When we received the news that Palestine qualified to the Olympics on merit instead of via wild-card invite, this brought a lot of joy to the Olympians as well as to the Palestinian Olympic Committee because it was the first time this ever happened in Palestine's history."
9. 01:44 Various shots of Maher Abu Rmeileh training with his cousin, Wissam Abu Rmeileh.
10. 02:06 SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Wissam Abu Rmeileh, Palestinian athlete & cousin of Maher Abu Rmeileh
"Ever since Maher has participated in the Olympics, I started to take part in championships on his behalf. I have the same weight and the same surname. So sometimes people mistook me for him. That's why I felt responsible that I have to raise Palestine's flag and make my country proud of me. And I started dreaming of qualifying to the Olympics as well."
11. 02:27 Various shots of training.
SOURCE: SNTV.
sntv talks to Maher Abu Rmeileh, the first Palestinian athlete to have qualified for an Olympic Games on merit instead of a wild-card invite, when he competed at the 2012 Olympics in London.
SCRIPTING INFORMATION:
Born in East Jerusalem, judo champion Maher Abu Rmeileh is also a family man, with two young sons.
By day, he works in his family's shop selling scarves, by night he heads to the training centre to enhance his techniques, to try and reach higher levels in the years to come.
Abu Rmeileh is ranked 162nd in the world for his category (73-kilograms) by the International Judo Federation.
He was only five years old when his father, Shafik, a judo coach, introduced him to the combat sport.
As he grew up, he took part in several championships; the most recent was the one that allowed him to make history.
Abu Rmeileh competed in an international judo competition in Tokyo in the 73-kg (roughly 161-pound) weight-class and managed to beat several opponents including the best judoka from Hong Kong and, based largely on his scores, he had accumulated the necessary points to qualify for the London Olympic Games.
10 other Palestinian athletes have competed in the Olympics since 1996, but they failed to meet the qualification standard and attended thanks to a special IOC invitation.
Abu Rmeileh, however, is the first to have qualified on his own merit.
In London 2012, he made it to the men's -73kg elimination round of 32, where he was knocked out by Belgian Dirk van Tichelt.
With sweat dripping down his face, and with a broad grin, Abu Rmeileh joyously recalled the day he got the news that he'd qualified for London.
His participation in the Olympics was the culmination of 21 years of practising judo, initially accompanying his judoka father.
At the training centre, one of Abu Rmeileh's cousins, Wassim also aims to reach the Olympics for Palestine.
Even if Maher couldn't achieve the gold medal at London, his qualification has been noted as an outstanding achievement and is surely to inspire the young generation in a country lacking sponsorship and facilities.
