Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 9 -15 November 2000 Issue No.507
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

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Eat your hearts out

By Abeer Anwar

Cairo Airport was abuzz with more than the usual activity last week when an EgyptAir flight taxied down the runway. Minister of Youth Aliyiddin Hilal and Gamal Mubarak were on hand near the tarmac while hundreds of other fans who could not venture as close waited impatiently for the passengers to disembark. The official and unofficial welcoming delegations were about to greet the Champions, the disabled athletes who gave a textbook display in the Sydney Paralympics on how to win medals and more friends, two things their able-bodied colleagues failed miserably at in the Sydney Games a few months earlier.

The news that Hilal and President Hosni Mubarak's son would meet them at the airport -- announced as the plane was still up in the air -- stirred a good deal of excitement among the athletes who were clearly relishing this new-found fame. They were returning with 28 medals in their suitcases -- six gold, 12 silver and 10 bronze. They brought Egypt to a 23rd place finish out of 123 countries, a bigger achievement than in the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics which saw the same number of medals won but only 94 countries taking part. Their was unconcealed joy over a job well done and perhaps a bit of undisguised mischief in their eyes for having turned the medals tables on their more pampered able-bodied cousins who came back from Sydney with nothing but heartaches and headaches.

As the plane swooped down for a landing, they quickly shelved an issue that had become a talking point for a good part of the marathon journey. Their Sydney cousins, they argued, were getting paid more money and getting more media attention for doing nothing more extraordinary than showing up at tournaments.

As if on cue, as if somebody had been listening in from 10,000 feet below, the athletes were told by Hilal upon touching down that President Mubarak had agreed to raise a cash bonus they will receive from LE500,000 to LE1.5 million. He added they would soon meet the president himself.

	Gamal Mubarak and a wheelchair-bound athlete proudly display a product of Sydney
Salem, Hilal and Gamal Mubarak, left to right, stand beside a flag-draped medal winner while a victory girl shows off a most precious prize photos: Salah Ibrahim

"I have decided to open all youth centres to every disabled athlete to produce a new generation of champions who will be able to continue what you began in the Paralympic Games in Athens 2004," Hilal told his thrilled audience.

Gamal Mubarak's short address was just as inspiring. "I decided to welcome you as an Egyptian proud of your achievements. You have set an example for every youth in Egypt, to have the same will and ambition to do what you did in all endeavours."

Nabil Salem, head of the Egyptian disabled delegation in Sydney, believed there was no time to lose. "Preparations for Athens 2004 will start as of now," Salem said, voicing concern that many countries in the Paralympics had improved and that it was essential to stay ahead.

Following the official reception, Egyptians in the hundreds and from all walks of life treated the athletes to a more raucous greeting. They waved mini-Egyptian flags as a band struck up the national anthem and played a few famed patriotic numbers. Drivers of dozens of microbuses plastered their vehicles with the names of the champions. After making their way to the arrival hall several players were carried atop the shoulders of members of their families and perfect strangers, parading them around the airport grounds.

Mahmoud El-Attar, winner of two gold medals in the discus and javelin and named Egypt's best player at the championship, summed up what his comrades had all felt. "I can't believe this. At last we are recognised as being equal to able-bodied players, as champions."

The welcome apparently persuaded Ahmed Gomaa, a gold medalist in powerlifting, to put retirement on hold. "I was thinking of retiring, especially after having set world and Paralympic records," said Gomaa, who won his fourth gold medal in his fourth Paralympics. "But on seeing this, I'll have to think about it."

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