Representing Israel at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, Shalabi won two gold medals in swimming.

[2] He was deaf-mute from birth, and at 13 years of age he became paralyzed in all four limbs in an accident in which he fell from a rooftop, leaving him wheelchair-bound.

[12] In 2017, a documentary entitled Swimming Against the Current was screened at the Jerusalem Film Festival which had been directed and produced by Arab Assel Abu Hjoul.

[9] He set the world record in his disability category for the 150-meter medley while winning a gold medal at the 2021 European Championships in England in May 2021.

"[18] Israeli Culture and Sports Minister Hili Tropper wrote: "Iyad is an inspiring man whose life has been full of victories.