Zakia Nassar, the 21-year-old Palestinian swimmer who last week fulfilled her lifelong ambition to compete at the Olympics, deserves a gold medal for her tenacity¹.

Having had neither a coach nor access to an Olympic-sized pool for the past year, Nassar, who is currently² studying dentistry, had no option but to train on her own at a 12 m public pool.

The coach Nassar had a year ago left her to her own devices when the 25 m pool in Bethlehem closed down.

"There is no pool in Jenin where I am studying," she said.

"So I can swim only once or twice a month when I go back to my parents' home in Bethlehem."

There is a 50 m pool in nearby Nazareth, but the Israeli government does not permit her to use it.

Nassar said it was often embarrassing trying to train at the public pool, with other people swimming and splashing³ around.

"Sometimes people cut across me, and others would get angry when I swam into them. But quite a few made way for me," she said.

"I got so depressed⁴ sometimes I couldn't help crying, but my parents and friends encouraged me, reminding me that I had to keep training if I really wanted to go to the Olympics."

It was only when Nassar arrived in China a month ago that she finally got the opportunity to swim in a 50 m pool and enjoy the benefits of having a coach.

When she at last took part in the Games, she swam the 50 m in 31.97 seconds, an improvement of 7 seconds on her personal best.

Despite her time being good enough only for 79th place, Nassar said it was "the most beautiful moment" of her life.

"Participating in a race at the Olympics was a once-in-a-lifetime experience," she said.

"It felt like I was flying."

But she is not sure if she will go to the next Olympics.

"I won't compete unless I've done the right training. But as swimming is in my soul, I'll probably be a coach in my spare time," she said.

21岁的巴勒斯坦游泳运动员扎奇娅•纳塞尔上周终于如愿以偿地站在了奥运会的赛场上。她坚韧不拨的精神值得金牌的礼遇。

纳塞尔目前还是一名牙科学生，在过去的一年里，她既没有教练指导，也无法到符合奥运会规格的游泳池中进行训练，她只能在12米的公共泳池内独自训练。

纳塞尔的教练在一年前伯利恒的25米游泳池关闭后离开了她。

她说；“我在杰宁上学，那里没有游泳池。”

“所以我只能在每个月回到伯利恒的家时训练一两次。”

拿撒勒附近倒是有个50米的游泳池，可是以色列政府的管控不允许她去那里练习。

纳塞尔说，在公共泳池训练是很尴尬的事情，因为很多人在周围游来游去或者玩水嬉戏。

她说：“有时候会有人突然挡在我前面，也有人会因为我撞到他们而生气。但也有很多人会为我让道。”

“有时候我会觉得非常失落，忍不住想哭。可我的父母和朋友都鼓励我，他们说如果想参加奥运会，我就必须坚持训练。”

纳塞尔在一个月前到了中国以后才终于有机会能在50米的泳池里游泳，而且还有了个教练。

这一次，她终于能参加奥运会比赛了。在50米的比赛中，她游出了31秒97的成绩，比她的个人最好成绩提高了7秒。

虽然她的成绩只能排第79名，但纳塞尔说这是她一生中“最美好的时刻”。

她说：“能参加奥运会比赛是人生中难得的经历。”

“那感觉就好像我在飞。”

不过，她并不确定自己是否会参加下一届奥运会。

她说：“不经过适当训练，我是不会参赛的。但是，因为游泳已经成为我生命的一部分，可能我以后会在业余时间去当教练。”