1 - 7 March 2001
Issue No.523
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 1 - 7 March 2001 Issue No.523 |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Games on ice
The 2001 Special Olympics World Winter Games will be the largest international sporting championship ever to be staged in Alaska and the first large-scale event held there in the new millennium.
Egypt's snowshoe team, using the next best thing to snow
photo: Ayman Barayez
More than 2,750 athletes and coaches from 80 nations are expected to descend on the US state for the eight-day tournament which begins 4 March. Over 7,000 family members, volunteers and supporters will make these 7th Winter Games one of the hottest attractions in one of North America's coldest regions.
Anchorage, Eagle River and Girdwood will be the sporting venues. The opening ceremonies will take place in the Sullivan Arena, the site of the closing ceremonies on 11 March.
Hosts the United States will enter the biggest contingent of athletes, 498, representing all 50 states. Sixteen Arab and African countries are participating, including Egypt.
The athletes will be tackling Alpine skiing, figure skating, floor hockey, cross country skiing, snowboarding, speed skating and snowshoeing in which Egypt will make its debut. Snowshoeing, in which the contestants race on framed devices akin to tennis rackets, has attracted 111 athletes, including Egypt's four-member team coached by Bahaa Mohamed and Amal Abul-Futouh. The squad will race in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 4X100m relay. The sports' other events are the 800m, 1,600m, 5km, 10km, 25km and 50km.
Oddly enough, a snowshoeing championship took place in Egypt last May and from which Egypt's athletes were chosen from that contest. In the absence of snow in Egypt, the athletes played and trained on soft compressed sand near the Pyramids.
Even though this is Egypt's first crack at snowshoeing at the world level, Ismail Osman, chairman of Special Olympics Egypt (SOE), believes it has a chance at a medal.
Floor hockey might also offer a chance for victory. In the 1997 Special Olympics World Winter Games held in Toronto, the Egyptian floor hockey team won the silver medal. This year, Egypt will participate with a 16-member squad which, for three months, trained under the watchful eyes of Tarek El-Gamal and Ahmed Hammouda.
Osman said he was greatly pleased by Egypt's participation in the Games as a whole. "It is a great honour for all Egyptians that our mentally handicapped athletes are representing us in this event for the second time. We hope that this time, the SOE's delegation will be able to collect more medals." Osman added that the SOE had succeeded due to the continuous efforts of Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, SOE's honourary chairwoman.
"We invite all of you to come and support our Egyptian heroes in Alaska," said Magda Moussa, SOE president. "It is through these competitions that our athletes with special needs will become fully integrated into the challenges and joys of society."
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