Egyptian weightlifter Mohamed Ihab confident of winning Olympic medal in Rio
Mahmoud Elassal, Tuesday 9 Aug 2016
Mohamed Ihab is one of the favourites among Egyptian Olympians to win a medal at the Rio de Janeiro Games


After winning bronze in the 2015 World Championship, Mohamed Ihab is one of Egypt's weightlifting hopes to win another accolade at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games as he starts his bid on Wednesday.

Ihab (77kg) got on the podium after lifting 201kg in clean and jerk and 162kg in snatch, totalling 363kg to come behind Kazakhstan's Nijat Rahimov who took the gold medal and silver medalist Kim Kwang-song of North Korea at the USA contest.

The 27-year-old weightlifteris currently working to win a medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.

"I expect to stand at the podium in the coming Olympic Games in Brazil as that's my dream of winning a medal and lifting Egypt's flag," Mohamed Ihab was quoted as saying on a television programme ahead of Rio.

Ihab started his weightlifting career when he was 18 years old, participating in the Arab weightlifting championship in 2007 in Egypt. He won three gold medals despite being the youngest weightlifter in the championship.

He then joined the young World Championship in the Czech Republic, achieving fifth place in the world youth weightlifter ranking.

Ihab won first place in the Mediterranean Sea Championship in 2008 in Cyprus before winning silver at the World Championship in Colombia.

After finishing fourth in the 2008 Olympic Games, Ihab faded away for five years, struggling with injury.

He made his return at the 2014World Championship in Kazakhstan, in the 69kg category. He won bronze after lifting 152kg in snatch, the silver in clean and jerk with 182kg, lifting a total of 334kg to claim an overall silver.

A year later he moved one category up, at the 77kg.

He won the bronze medal in the 2015 World Championship setting a new Arab and African record of 201kg at clean and jerk, breaking the old mark of 197kg.

"I am training well to fight for Rio 2016 medals," Ihab wrote on his official account on Facebook a week before the tournament starts.

"We fight for our dreams and accept the tough trainings to achieve our targets in the Rio 2016."



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