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Al-Ahram Weekly 8 - 14 July 1999 Issue No. 437 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 8 - 14 July 1999 Issue No. 437
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Focus Books Travel Living Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters Tragedy at the Olympics
By Abeer AnwarThe Egyptian mentally disabled team won only six medals at the 10th World Special Olympics, which attracted 150 countries and 3,000 athletes in the US state of North Carolina. The team, representing the Middle East and Africa, had hoped to improve upon its achievements in 1995, the first time Egypt participated in the championship, when it collected 21 medals -- seven gold, seven silver and seven bronze. But it was not to be this time as this year's haul included just three gold and three silver medals.
One obvious reason for the low output was the smaller contingent that Egypt fielded. In 1995, Egypt was represented by 45 players; this year only 36 players were chosen from 850 players following national and Arab qualifying tournaments held in February. Absent from the teams, for example, was the entire basketball squad.
The death of one of their teammates contributed to the team's inferior performance. Fourteen-year-old Mohamed Abdel-Baset, a member of the volleyball team, a mix of seven disabled and five able-bodied players, was found dead by his coach the morning after the first day of competition. The body was rushed back to Egypt for burial.
The death of Abdel-Baset, who was mentally ill, was met with eulogies by Olympic officials. Morale was low when the volleyball team was forced to play on. Not surprisingly, it lost its two matches to Russia and Germany by identical 2-0 scores.
In other sports, Egypt fared slightly better. In the futsal, the six-a-side football format in which a match consists of two halves, 15 minutes each, Egypt came in second after losing to Chile in the final of a controversial match which saw the referee erase two seemingly good goals by Egypt. On the road to the final, Egypt beat Russia 3-1 and the US 4-1.
Four females and four males combined to form the athletics team which competed in the high jump, shot put and running events. Yasmine Nader won the gold in the high jump and the silver in the 100-metre dash. Abeer Ashmawi took the silver medal in the 200 metres. The four-member table tennis squad took part in singles and doubles matches, with Leila Nasreddin garnering the gold in the singles. Four players formed the swimming team; one of them, Ezzeddin Hussein, snatched gold in the 200-metre freestyle.
"It is an honour to take part in such an event and give a chance to players to prove their abilities," Ismail Othman, head of the Egyptian and Arab Special Olympics, said. "It doesn't matter who wins or loses. All are here to participate."
"We want to raise the Egyptian flag and show the world that we are not only able to compete but win," said Mustafa Mohsen, on the swimming team.
Egypt was the first country in Africa to form a mentally disabled team. Othman, together with Magda Moussa, regional manager of Special Olympics Egypt, offered the possibility of Egypt hosting the event. "We were successful in organising the 1995 All-Africa Games and this year's handball World Cup," Moussa said. "Why not the Special Olympics?"
