Striking gold

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The scene of our athletes claiming their medals at the Olympics in Athens was a delightful one for all Egyptians. The last Olympic gold medal won by an Egyptian being 56 years ago, the sensation was new to many of us. Egypt's lack of athletic achievement is commonly perceived as a symbol of its lack of vitality in other pursuits. We have been unable to compete internationally in many sports. The country's sports budget goes almost exclusively to football. Top Egyptian clubs spend more on football than on all other sports combined.

Even worse, football, in this country as well as in other parts of the Third World, has become an outlet for political and economic dissatisfaction. We have more allegiance to football clubs than to political parties. The country's most popular football team, Ahli, commands the country's largest following in any field, politics included. This lop-sided interest translates into negligence of individual sports. Our recent participation at the African games in Nigeria was nothing short of disastrous. More than one of Egypt's athletes died there because they hadn't been inoculated against endemic diseases. And not one of the officials responsible for this catastrophe has been called to account.

With all due respect to the officials involved, Egypt cannot bask too long in the glow of Athens 2004. The honours attained were as a result of individual effort not state sponsorship. The victory of Karam Gaber, the wresting gold medal winner, and his fellow athletes should entice us to do more, to pay more attention to our gifted youth in all fields -- athletic, scientific and otherwise.

Karam Gaber deserves to have his picture placed, larger-than-life, in public squares, at least to inspire young hopefuls in the country. Now that we know we can do it, let's not allow the coming football season to distract us. Let's begin from now preparing for Beijing 2008. Perhaps we should focus on a number of limited sports in which we excel, such as wrestling, boxing, taekwondo and weight lifting. We need more Olympic winners. We need more hope.