Despite not being fully recognised as a state, Palestine has been competing since 1995, but has never had a boxer in the final round. Every morning he receives training instructions from his coach, who lives in Cairo. A Gazan who cannot travel to the occupied West Bank, he follows his daily Olympic training schedule as he prepares to make history.

At the age of 20, he will be the first Palestinian boxer to compete in the Olympics after being awarded a wildcard spot, and who knows if he will win the first medal for the Palestinians. "This has been my dream since I was 10 years old," he told AFP the day after receiving the invitation last week. "Every day I went to sleep and woke up thinking about how I could reach the Olympics," he said.

His daily work is dictated by circumstance. His coach, Ahmad Harara, 32, has to send him tasks by phone because he is prevented from travelling to Israel by travel restrictions. "I only see him when I travel" for international competitions, Waseem Abu Sal told AFP in an interview at his gym in Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the occupied West Bank. "He writes my training programme every day. I train in the morning and again in the evening with coach Nader Jayousi", he said.

Breaking barriers and finding ways around them is the name of the game. That's what Abu Sal is doing in order to prepare himself in the best possible way in such special circumstances. Harara said he was unable to see his star because of "the occupation barriers between the West Bank and Gaza" as a Gaza ID holder. "Since then, I have been monitoring Waseem's training from afar," Harara said.

Abu Sal did not make the Olympic qualifying rounds. He was given a wildcard spot in a system that ensures all countries are represented at the Games. The political reality of the West Bank prevents the boxer's training from being normal. The many Israeli army checkpoints restrict movement, preventing the usual athlete-coach relationship. What Abu Sal is doing is special, and if he ends up making history, it will be because of the extra motivation.

"Athletes from the West Bank can't come to us easily," he said. For example, sparring to simulate competition conditions is the most common way for a boxer to train. Abu Sal has to do this with a partner in Ramallah who weighs several categories more than he does: 71 kilos compared to Abu Sal's 57 kilos. 

Another partner closer to his weight is in Jerusalem, on the other side of Israel's security barrier, making regular training difficult. "This makes it difficult to organise tournaments, which leads to less competition in the country," he said. 

Things get even more complicated when it comes to travelling abroad. "Many countries refuse visas to people with Palestinian passports. This means we miss tournaments while waiting for visas," he said. 

Abu Sal, for example, will have to drive from Ramallah to Amman to catch a plane to Paris when it's time to go to the Games. His mentor is Nader Jayousi, head of the Palestinian Olympic delegation, which will send seven athletes to Paris this year. Jayousi is his angel in the corner, his shadow in training. 

He is the man who runs the training sessions in the official gym in Ramallah, where he shares what he has with other promising young boxers. "It is a proud moment, not only for me, but for Palestine, because the first Palestinian boxer will represent Palestine at the Olympic Games," Jayousi said. Rap music and traditional songs played in the background during the interview.

"This is a big challenge for us, because iron sharpens iron," Jayousi said. He lamented that it is difficult to prepare Abu Sal without proper training partners, but Palestinians must overcome these difficult situations if they want to make the dream come true.

Jayousi cites the cases of a coach killed in an air strike, a Gaza boxer who lost an uncle and another who lost an eye to shrapnel. The ongoing conflict adds even more value to what Abu Sal was able to achieve on 28 July. It is clear that it affects people in a way that only those who have experienced it first hand can explain. Jayousi said, "This has affected our boxers greatly, because every day we receive news of athletes we are losing."

Abu Sal has an extra dose of strength that allows him to overcome obstacles. That's why he'll be in the ring in Paris. Until then, his duties are clear: "train, eat and sleep". Receiving the invitation changed Abu Sal's life: "It was like life came back to me," he said.