Mohamed Al-Sayed became Egypt’s first athlete to open the country’s medal account at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games after he clinched the bronze in fencing.
For his efforts, Al-Sayed received an immediate $1,000 as prize money granted by the Egyptian Minister of Youth and Sports Ashraf Sobhi who is closely monitoring how Egypt is doing from the French capital.
Al-Sayed’s men’s epee individual event saw a hard-fought win over Tibor Andrasfi of Hungary 8-7. With the score tied at 7-7 after three rounds, Al-Sayed had to grab the winner in overtime.
It was Egypt’s second Olympic medal in fencing following a silver won by Alaa Abul-Kassem in London 2012.
World No 10 Al-Sayed began his day by dominating John Rodriguez of Colombia with a commanding score of 15-7 in the round of 32.
The 21-year-old maintained his impressive run by defeating Italy’s Andrea Santarelli 15-10 in the round of 16 before beating Neisser Loyola of Belgium 9-8 in the quarters.
Al-Sayed missed out on a chance for the gold medal after losing in the semis to Frenchman and world No 3 Yannick Borel 15-9.
Al-Sayed’s Olympic medal is the first for Africa in epee.
In his debut Olympic appearance in Tokyo 2020, at just 18, Al-Sayed was eliminated in the quarter-finals.
His coach/father Al-Sayed Sami, said he was extremely happy for and proud of his son for winning the bronze medal. Sami told Egyptian media that he had faith in his son winning an Olympic medal. “Though Mohamed was aiming for a gold medal since his arrival in Paris, I am still so proud of him winning the bronze medal,” he said.
President of the Egyptian Fencing Federation Abdel-Moneim Al-Husseini was over the moon with Al-Sayed’s precious medal, thanking the Ministry of Sports for the morale and financial support it is giving to fencing and was looking forward to more fencing medals at the Games.
Shortly before the Olympics began, Minister Sobhi predicted that Egypt would collect from six to 10 medals, probably basing his forecast on the six garnered in Tokyo 2020. But as of writing five days into the sporting extravaganza, Al-Sayed’s medal was Egypt’s sole piece of metal. While the bronze brought joy back home, Egyptian enthusiasts were disappointed with some unexpected results and avoidable mishaps.
Egypt’s first ever female boxer to qualify for the Olympics exited the Games without throwing a punch earlier in the week when she failed to make the weight for the 54 kg contest.
Yomna Ayad had been due to fight heavily fancied Uzbek Nigina Uktamova but weighed in almost a kg too heavy and was disqualified.
The boxer’s weight on the eve of the game was 54 kg when measured by boxing officials at night. However, in the morning, it was found that Ayyad had become 900 grams heavier — overnight. Accordingly, she was disqualified by the Games’ officials, forcing the Egyptian Olympic Committee (EOC) to launch an immediate investigation.
“Yomna was scheduled to compete in the 54 kg category, and she was weighed by federation officials at midnight before the bout and it was okay,” a perplexed EOC treasurer and national boxing federation chief Mohamed Ghoneim told Reuters.
“In the morning when she underwent the official weigh-in she was 900 g over her weight and was disqualified,” a furious Ghoneim added.
At the beginning, reports from Egyptian sport officials varied. First, they claimed that Ayad had had a heavy dinner after being weighed. But after withering criticism on mainstream and social media for not monitoring their athletes, the narrative changed. The Boxing Federation then released this statement on Sunday clearing both parties of any blame.
“Ayad’s weight gain was attributed to common physiological changes rather than any negligence on her part or that of the team’s technical staff,” a statement issued by the Egyptian Olympic Committee said on Sunday.
The committee also said that a detailed medical report explaining the situation was available for review by any specialist interested in the matter. Egyptians apparently didn’t buy the explanation, accusing the officials of negligence and not following up with their athletes, especially women.
To add insult to injury, another case came up. Just hours after her elimination from the round of 16 in the women’s sabre individual event on Monday, Egyptian fencer Nada Hafez revealed that she was playing while being seven months pregnant.
Hafez lost 15-7 to Jiyoon Hyung of South Korea in the round of 16, bringing a premature end to her Olympic campaign.
“What seemed like two players on the field was, in reality, three,” Hafez wrote on her Instagram account on Monday.
“I was there along with my opponent and my little child who has not yet entered our world.
“We, my child and I, faced our fair share of challenges, whether physical or emotional. The period of pregnancy is tough in itself, but the necessity to struggle to maintain a balance between life and sports was nothing short of exhausting, yet entirely worth it.”
The 27-year-old, a physician, reached the round of 16 after defeating world No 7, American fencer Elizabeth Tartakovsky, 15-13 in the round of 32.
The 2024 Paris Olympics marks Hafez’s third participation in an Olympics, having previously competed in Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020. But she failed to go through the round of 32 on both occasions.
“I write this post to express that pride overwhelms me because I secured my place in the round of 16. I am fortunate to have received the trust and support of my husband and family to reach this point.
“These Olympics were different, specifically. I became an Olympian for the third time, but this time carrying a little Olympic champion.”
Hafez’s announcement of being pregnant brought frenzy reactions worldwide. It was a stunning admission, as was the many questions of whether Egyptian officials knew about it in the first place. Or were they unaware of her condition? Because if the former, they were risking the lives of the mother and baby in a manner of shocking negligence. If the latter, how does a seven-month pregnancy go unnoticed?
“To my beloved nation, when I mentioned my pregnancy, it was to shed light on the strength, perseverance and relentlessness of the Egyptian women. And by winning against the American champion who’s ranked seventh in the world is a clear victory and demonstration of what an Egyptian athlete, doctor, and most of all a woman can do.
“I’m not the only athlete to have participated while being pregnant. There have been many other international champions as long as there are no medical restraints. I’m so proud of representing Egypt in the Olympics and showing what Egyptian women are capable of,” Hafez wrote.
There was bright news for Egypt in football. Egypt beat Spain 2-1 on Tuesday to finish atop their Group C with seven points to reach the quarter-finals.
Ibrahim Adel scored a brace in this third and final group stage game while Samu pulled a goal back for Spain, which finished with six points, in the 90th minute.
The win meant that Egypt will play either Japan, Paraguay, Mali, or Israel in Group D whose games were to be played Tuesday night.
The quarter-final will be played on 2 August.
Egypt had opened their football campaign with a disappointing 0-0 draw with the Dominican Republic at Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes on 24 July. But they bounced back with a 1-0 win against Uzbekistan on Saturday, the lone goal a huge deflection off Ahmed “Koka” Nabil just 11 minutes into the game.
The top two teams in the four groups advance to the knockout rounds.
Making their 13th football appearance in the Olympics, Egypt aim to secure their first-ever medal, with their best result being fourth place in Amsterdam 1928 and Tokyo 1964.
In Tokyo 2020, Egypt reached the quarter-finals before losing 1-0 to Brazil.
The team is coached by Brazilian Rogerio Micale who previously guided Brazil to a gold medal in Rio de Janeiro 2016.
Egyptian tennis player Mayar Sherif suffered a 2-1 defeat against former world No 1 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the women’s singles round of 64 on Sunday.
Sherif started strong by clinching the first set 6-2 but eventually lost the two remaining sets 7-5 and 6-1, resulting in her elimination from the event.
It marked the second Olympic appearance for the 28-year-old Sherif, who also competed in Tokyo 2020 but was eliminated in the first round.
In handball, Egyptian handball star Yehia Al-Deraa said he believed that the players’ lack of concentration was the main reason for Egypt’s defeat against world champions Denmark on Monday 30-27 in their second group stage game.
The Pharaohs had a poor start to the game, allowing the Danish team to secure a comfortable 19-9 lead by halftime. However, in the second half, the Egyptian side managed to regain its composure and narrow the gap to just three goals.
“We lost concentration in the first half,” Al-Deraa, who plays for Hungary’s Veszprem, told beIN Sports after the game.
“We made a lot of mistakes during the first half, and against a tough opponent like Denmark, mistakes are very costly. The situation improved in the second half, and the players showed their quality.”
Egypt defeated Hungary 35-32 in the group opener on Saturday. Egypt currently lie third with two points.
They are set to face hosts France in a tough clash on Wednesday, after Al-Ahram Weekly went to press, before taking on Norway and Argentina on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
The top four teams in each group will advance to the quarter-finals.
The volleyball and beach volleyball teams were scheduled to compete against their Italian counterparts in their respective events on Tuesday.
The volleyball team faces a stern test against Italy, the 2023 European runners-up, after opening their group stage with a 3-0 defeat to European champions Poland on Saturday.
The Egypt women’s beach volleyball team, comprised of Doaa Al-Ghobashi and Marwa Magdi will also take on Italy.
Italy come up one more time, in fencing, as the Egyptian women’s epee team will face them in the quarter-finals.
They hope to avenge their 2-0 loss (21-14, 21-19) in their first match against Brazil on Sunday.
Rower Abdel-Khalek Al-Banna continued his campaign as he progressed to the quarter-finals of the men’s single sculls while shooter Magi Ashmawi embarks on her mission in the women’s trap event.
Judoka Abdel-Rahman Abdel-Ghani (-81kg) goes up against Frenchman Alpha Djalo who clinched the bronze in the 2023 European Championships.
Boxer Abdel-Rahman Orabi starts his journey in the 80 kg event as Egypt’s athletes strive to make their mark in Paris.
The Egyptian Olympic delegation is the biggest in its history with 148 male and female players in addition to 16 substitutes, making it a total of 164 athletes competing in 22 sports. The Pharaohs delegation is the biggest in Africa and the Arab world.
In Paris, Egyptians are competing in track and field, football, handball, volleyball, beach volleyball, swimming, diving, artistic swimming, sailing, rowing, boxing, taekwondo, judo, wrestling, weightlifting, tennis, table tennis, modern pentathlon, fencing, gymnastics, shooting, archery, cycling, equestrian, and canoe and kayak.
Paris 2024, which runs from 26 July to 11 August, will be Egypt’s 23rd participation in the Olympic Games. Egyptians competed in 22 of the past 32 editions with a world ranking of 53 according to the medals won: 38 — eight gold, 11 silver, and 19 bronze.
Weightlifting leads Egypt’s Olympic table with 14 medals followed by wrestling with eight, boxing four, taekwondo four, judo two, diving two, karate two, and fencing and modern pentathlon one apiece.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 1 August, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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