Palestinians stand behind a fence at the sealed Rafah border crossing, the Gaza's Strip only outlet to the outside world. (Maan Images)

The Gaza Strip's only Olympic athlete cannot believe he broke through Israel's siege of the tiny coastal strip, let alone that he made it all the way to China.

"Right now, I can't believe I got out of Gaza. It is an unbelievable situation, trying to travel from there. It might take about 14 hours to get halfway across the world, but just to get out of the Gaza Strip I need weeks," said Nader al-Masri, a slightly built 28-year-old dressed in a striped T-shirt and speaking at the entrance to the Olympic Village, where he and Palestine's three other athletes are staying.

Beijing's gleaming new facilities are a world away from his hometown of Beit Hanoun, where his family and friends will be watching him on television on Wednesday.

Located just a kilometre from the walls, electrified fences and death zones covered by Israeli snipers, Beit Hanoun - which is on Gaza's border with Israel - is frequently on the front line of intense military action.

Israeli forces occupied the town in Oct 2006, killing some 50 civilians,in the same year a deadly clan dispute had the town under curfew.

Then, bloody clashes erupted between Fatah and Hamas with the latter seizing control of Gaza in June 2007. Before a ceasefire, Palestinian militants used the town as cover to launch rockets into Israel. In fact, one misfired rocket hit Masri's home.

Through it all, though, Masri kept on running.

"It is very beautiful to be here in Beijing. The facilities are just unimaginably great. The situation is awful in Gaza for everyone,of course. And it is also very bad for sports. The Israelis are constantly launching attacks on Gaza. There is a siege. All our facilities have been damaged or destroyed. We don't have a proper athletics stadium. We all have to do our training on the street," he said.

"All the athletes in Gaza dream of taking part in the Olympic Games one day. But the opportunities are few."

Four Palestinian athletes have travelled to Beijing. In addition to Masri, who will run in the 5,000m on Wednesday, 100m sprinter Ghadeer Ghroof-Gharid from Jericho and swimmers Hamse Abdouh from East Jerusalem and Zakiya Nassar from Bethlehem are flying the Palestinians' flag.

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The Palestinian Territories do not have statehood, but they have been represented at the Olympics since the 1996 Games in Atlanta.

"It is incredibly important for Palestinian athletes to compete at the Olympics. Palestinians should be present at all the world's major sporting events. Our participation brings the Palestinian cause to everyone's attention," Masri said.

Back in Gaza,Masri ran 14km every morning from Beit Hanoun to Yarmouk stadium in Gaza City with his neighbours shouting "Run, Nader, run" as he passed.

Running is his hobby - he does not receive any money for it - but he works as an employee with the Palestinian Authority.

His first sport was football, but as he grew older he realised that running was his passion.

He won the Gaza schools' championship and within a year was training with the Palestinian national team.

Now a seasoned athlete, he said he had missed out on competing in eight athletics meetings since Israel banned Gazans from traveling when Hamas seized control of Gaza. His last international tournament was the 2006 Asian Games, where he placed eighth.

To read the full article please visit The National.