 |
Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 16 - 22 November 2000 Issue No.508 
| ||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 16 - 22 November 2000 Issue No.508
| ||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Muscle without the sweat
By Dalia El-Hennawy
Outclassing 10 other nations to win the Arab weightlifting championship, Egyptians lifted their weights and their heads high.
A successful lift in Tunisia
The Monazeh Stadium in Tunisia was where Egypt dominated in a sport it has perennially starred in at regional level. The traditional powerhouse carried off 73 medals -- 38 gold, 25 silver and 10 bronze -- and first place. Host nation Tunisia was second with 45 medals. Saudi Arabia surprised all by snatching third with 30 medals, even though the conservative Gulf state had no women entries.
Altogether 140 athletes, men and women, vied for more than 90 gold medals in men's and women's events, which included the juniors of both sexes. Twenty-five referees judged the results of the seven-day championship that saw almost 50 Arab records fall.
A 23-strong delegation represented Egypt; 16 males and seven females. Egypt's men took 14 gold and seven silver. The country also won the junior competition with 19 medals; six gold, seven silver and six bronze.
Egypt dominated the women's game with 21 medals; nine gold, nine silver and three bronze. However, junior girls weren't as successful, overpowered by the Tunisians who denied Egypt a clean sweep and took first place with 19 medals. The Egyptian female teens were runner-up with nine gold and three silver medals.
"We are glad with these outstanding results," said Mahmoud Shukri, president of the Egyptian Weightlifting Federation. "We gained the fruit of six months of hard training and preparation. We wanted to confirm our supremacy and dominance of the game."
Shukri added that the championship was the perfect warm-up to the 2001 Mediterranean Games, also in Tunisia. "We will continue with our intensive training which will include the French weightlifting championship next month where Italy and Turkey will test us."
The remarkable results of the women's team thrilled their coach, Hamdi Bassiouni, 1993 Mediterranean Games gold medalist. "The Egyptian women are ready for any competition and I think there results speak for themselves."
"I think that they are mentally ready for world class competition and to break records," said Bassiouni. "Obviously the programme they followed, with its high-level training techniques, has helped them in the past few months."
"The competition was not as easy as people think," added Bassiouni. "What concerns us now is to concentrate on the athletes who will represent us at the 2004 Olympic Games. We hope to follow the same programme for the 2008 Olympics."
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
