Egypt’s Olympians Return House Having Made Historical past
As the ultimate bells and whistles ring out for the Tokyo 2020 Summer season Olympic Video games, the lengthy awaited video games draw to an finish. From excessive dives to handball, athletes have burned the midnight oil working in direction of their private glories – with coronary heart and warmth and exemplar sportsmanship. After a grueling yr of bitter COVID-19 delays and public quarantine, Egypt welcomes again a few of its most iconic medalists.
Beginning in late July and ending in ceremony tonight, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics have witnessed a few of Egypt’s most interesting abilities attain their full potential. Others, equally promising, go away followers keen and impatient to listen to of their future successes. With a number of note-worthy efforts, Egypt is now house to 6 2020 Olympic medalists – amongst them, those that have carved their names properly into its athletic historical past.
Egypt noticed unforgettable performances in martial arts, notably historic karate moments made by Feryal Abdelaziz, aged 22, and her equally spectacular karateka Giana Farouk, aged 26.
Towards Azerbaijan’s Irina Zaretska in a high-strung, high-stakes match, Abdelaziz was capable of safe Egypt’s first ever gold medal by a girl on the Nippon Budokan area within the middle of Tokyo. She claimed the lead with solely half a minute on the clock, and the ultimate buzzer sealed her victory on the afternoon of August 7. With equally beautiful execution, Farouk was the primary to make historical past solely a day prior, her bronze medal constituting Egypt’s first-ever in karate. In an exciting show of ability in opposition to Yin Xiaoyan of China, Farouk got here third in ladies’s kumite -61 kg.
Taekwondo offered an equally promising alternative for Egyptian Olympians, with each Hedaya Malak (aged 28) and Seif Eissa (aged 23) claiming bronze medals of their respective weight-gender classes. This isn’t an remoted victory, nonetheless, with Malak being the primary Arab lady to safe two consecutive medals between her bronze in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. In an interview with Ahram On-line, Malak expresses: “[…] it’s the results of 5 years of exhausting work for the reason that finish of the Olympic video games in Rio de Janeiro 2016. [I] can’t specific my emotions of happiness and pleasure to make my homeland and the Egyptian folks pleased and proud.”
Sharing comparable sentiments, Eissa advised beIN Sports activities Dwell that he “can’t describe” his emotions; “[i]t was a dream not only for me,” he continues, “it was the dream of all 100-million Egyptians.” Each Malak and Eissa have been welcomed house by plenty upon arrival at Cairo Worldwide Airport, all echoing their names and commemorating their victories with the Egyptian flag in hand.
Jack of all trades, and grasp pentathlete with out fail, Ahmed Elgendy introduced house the silver medal within the males’s fashionable pentathlon. That is Arfica’s first-ever medal within the multivariate sport, and stays one among Egypt’s largest wins of the Tokyo 2020 Video games. With earlier medals on the 2021 World Championships and the 2018 Summer season Youth Olympics, Elgendy’s athleticism and coronary heart are definitely value veneration.
In the meantime, two-time U23 World Champion and 2019 African Video games gold medalist, Mohamed Ibrahim Elsayed – or ‘Kesho’ colloquially – gained Egypt’s eighth medal in Greco-Roman Wrestling on the Tokyo 2020 Video games. Defeating Korea’s seasoned wrestler Hasu Ryu, El-Sayed misplaced the semi-final with a good margin of 6-7 to Parviz Nasibov of Ukraine. In an interview with Sky Information, the 23 yr previous notes that “[t]he qualifying journey was robust” – besides, his key efficiency is a testomony to those long-standing efforts.
That stated, Egypt’s pleasure is mirrored of their medalists and their non-medalists alike, with Egyptian Olympians taking part in all the things from table-tennis to fencing, their big selection of expertise saturating the 2020 Video games. Such names embrace Alaa Abu al-Qasim, Mohamed Hamza, and Mohamed El-Sayed for his or her performances in fencing and sword fencing respectively. A memorable efficiency additionally comes courtesy Omar Assar, who was lionized as among the best table-tennis gamers in fashionable Egyptian historical past.
In comparable vein, Egypt’s nationwide handball workforce made its option to the semifinals, beneath the shut steering of Coach Roberto García Parrondo and the watchful eye of Egyptian followers, nestled again house. It’s the first African workforce to take action.
These victories represent the biggest in quantity since Egypt’s participation within the 1928 Olympic video games, hosted in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Even so, piping-hot ambition has Egypt wanting ahead to Paris 2024, to additional solidify its athletes as a power to be reckoned with.
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