For the first time, Cairo is playing host to the 2022 African Open Para Powerlifting Championships with the participation of 168 athletes.
The four-day tournament which starts today, Thursday 27 October, has Algeria, Angola, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, India, Iraq, Morocco, Libya, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Syria, Thailand, Uganda, the US, Uzbekistan, Zambia, and Sierra Leone in addition to host Egypt. Many non-African countries have been included. Egypt’s Minister of Youth and Sports Ashraf Sobhi will be attending.
The championship attracts athletes from around the world since it is an important station in their qualification for the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games.
Covid-19 measures are being applied all through the competition that will take place at the Hassan Mustafa Complex.
“We have longed for such a moment for a long time,” Hossameddin Mustafa, head of the Egyptian Paralympic Committee, said. “We are the champions of Africa and the world champions for years in powerlifting, so we were aiming to host the African Championship as a first step.
“When we bid for the championship, we received a big ‘yes’ because our powerlifters are known worldwide. Like Fatma Omar and Sherif Osman they have been Paralympic champions for decades.”
Mustafa took over as head of the Egyptian Paralympic Committee last summer and has plenty of dreams for the sport. He said this was the first step and that “we will bid for the World Championships next time”.
Ahmed Oween, head of the organising committee, said, “We are very proud to have the chance to host such an international event. I am sure we will dazzle the world with our organisation and the performance of our powerlifters.”
Howeida Mandi, manager of the championship, added, “We prepared well for the event and I am sure we will attract the attention of the world to the championship due to the organisation and high level of competition. We have the world champions participating from various countries such as Nigeria, Algeria and Iraq in addition to other Asian and European countries. The championship attracted a vast number of countries because Egypt has become a well-known host for international-level championships especially during the Covid-19 lockdown and the superb facilities made it easy for us to bid for and host any international event.”
Al-Ahram Weekly held exclusive interviews with Jorge Mauricio, head of the World Para Powerlifting Organisation (WPPO), and Dillion Richardson, WPPO development manager. Mauricio said he was fascinated by the idea that Egypt was hosting the third powerlifting championship to take place in Africa and the first African Open. “We have had two events in Africa. In 2015 we had the African games in Congo and in 2018 we had the first official African Championship held in Algeria. But 2022 is different as it is both an African championship and an open hosting 27 countries from all over the world. It is also a milestone as it qualified for the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games so every athlete is eager to participate, compete and win in order to qualify and this will guarantee a high level of competition among the events.”
“The facilities here in Egypt are great,” Mauricio said. “We made two inspection visits in June and September and we were fascinated with the stadium and the world standard hall.”
Richardson added, “Africa is one of the strongest continents in the world in powerlifting compared to athletics and swimming so it is very nice to come to the region and deliver the best and offer the athletes a golden opportunity to compete in their homeland in front of family, friends and relatives. We also have a hero here in Egypt: Sherif Osman. He has been the world champion for two decades with two world records, and he is an instructor with the International Paralympic Committee. He shares his expertise and knowledge with all the powerlifters and athletes from all over the world. He has been nominated twice as the athletes’ representative in the IPC committee and won twice in 2017 and in 2021, two cycles in a row, so it is his right and chance to compete in front of his family members and children.
“We are happy to work with the Egyptian Paralympic Committee and the Ministry of Youth and Sports,” Richardson said. “We need to leave a legacy and an impact in Egypt to be hosting an event that qualifies to the 2024 Paris Paralympics. We are hoping that such an event will shed more light on people with impairments and allow people to see them in a different light, not as beggars on the streets but as world and Paralympic champions who were able to challenge their disabilities and top the podiums aiming at more medals. That is what we are after: attracting more athletes and creating more inclusion opportunities for them in their societies.”
The Egyptian national team comprises seniors and juniors, 42 powerlifters in all, to give a chance for the biggest number of Egyptian players to compete in order to qualify for the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
“We have been camping at the Maadi Olympic Centre for a month and the players are doing their best in training as they want to show their best in front of their home fans and family,” Maher Ezzat, powerlifting seniors manager, said. “It is a golden chance for us to compete in our country and our first time ever so we have to do our best. We will face of course tough competition from African countries and others. But we have the powerhouses of the sport in Egypt so we will do our best and try to collect the biggest number of medals possible.”
Mohamed Ezzat, the Egyptian juniors technical manager, told the Weekly, “We have been training with the junior team since June. We feel we are lucky because we have been training all the time at the same venue of the champions, Hassan Mustafa Hall.
“We also have a number of juniors that are enthusiastic to win and complete the journey of our Egyptian professionals who will retire one day. These juniors are the nucleus for a second Egyptian world team that can compete and break world records to complete the journey.”
*A version of this article appears in print in the 27 October, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.
Short link: