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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 26 Oct. - 1 Nov. 2000 Issue No. 505 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 26 Oct. - 1 Nov. 2000 Issue No. 505
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Palestine International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Medals, at last
By Abeer Anwar
With half the two-week Paralympic Games concluded, Egypt ranks 16th out of 123 countries. It has won eight medals and, just as important, the admiration of a country so badly in need of sports heroes and medals in the wake of the disastrous, zero-medal show the able-bodied put on in the Sydney Olympics.
Her hands raised in triumph, Omar shouts for joy after setting a new world record and winning a gold for Egypt
The outcome of Egyptian prowess in the Paralympics is to have been registered on the medals table, along with Australia, which tops the nations with 55, Spain with 43 and France with 40. And Egypt has also carved a niche in the department of records. So far six world and nine Paralympic marks have fallen, two coming undone by Egyptians.
Playing against competitors from Tunisia, Kenya, Kuwait and Israel, Mahmoud El-Attar broke his own world record, hurling the discus 53.82 metres and earning Egypt's first of two gold medals. "I couldn't believe I won the first gold and set a new record for my country," El-Attar, who broke the mark by more than three metres, said.
Teammate Metawe' Abul-Kheir's throw was good enough for a silver while Hani El-Beheri came fourth.
Not to be outdone was Fatma Omar in women's powerlifting which was making its Paralympic debut. Omar set a world record in the 44-kilogramme weight category, heaving 107.5 kg for the country's second gold. "I'm very proud to be the first to raise the Egyptian flag in the first event for women's powerlifting," Omar said. "We also proved to the world that women are able to compete and set records just like men even though it's our first appearance in the Paralympic Games." Omar did not participate in any international championship, opting instead to concentrate on the Paralympics. She settled for the Olympic Centre in Maadi for most of her training.
In the 48kg weight category, Abeer Ibrahim collected the silver. Teammate Hend Abdel-Atti also took silver in the 82.5 kilogramme division while Nadia Ali landed up with the bronze to put Egypt in third place in the sport after China and Nigeria with four medals.
Holding nothing back, Paralympic sprinters go all out
On the second day of competition, Ahmed Hassan added a bronze in the 200-metre sprint. "It's the first time I take part in this race," Hassan said. "My specialty is the 400 but I wanted to try and win a medal for Egypt and I did."
Mervat El-Sayed took a bronze in the shotput while teammate Zakia Abdin took sixth.
Egypt's lone swimmer, Essam Zeidan, failed in both the 200-metre medley and 50-metre butterfly, coming in seventh in both races.
In volleyball the Egyptian team proved that dreams can come true, winning its five matches, all in straight sets, and coming out on top of a group which included Finland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Libya, Korea and hosts Australia. Only against Bosnia, which lost 25-20, 25-21, 25-22, was the score close. When the final whistle blew, the players celebrated as if they had won the final. "We are happy because we will top our group and not have to face Iran, the world champions," said coach Mansour El-Mohamedi. But should the team go on to greater heights, it could face the Asian giants in the final.
The scenario did not faze Nabil Salem, president of the Egyptian Disabled Federation and head of the Egyptian Delegation, who gave an immediate $100 bonus to each player.
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