Athletes from The American University in Cairo (AUC) recently dazzled as they emerged victorious from the All-African Universities Games with 82 medals: 46 gold, 28 silver and eight bronze medals.
The All-African Universities Games, also known as the FASU Games, are a premier continental multi-sport event organised biennially by the Federation of Africa University Sports. The FASU Games are held every two years ever since the first edition was held in 1974.
“The American University in Cairo participated twice in the All-African Universities Games. The first was in the 10th edition in Nairobi, Kenya 2022, where our athletes finished in first place overall with a total of 68 medals (29 gold, 22 silver and 18 bronze),” Sherif Al-Erian, the AUC sports director, said.
In Kenya, AUC emerged as the overall winner and Egypt topped the medal standings. “AUC had returned to defend their title as the reigning champions in the 11th edition in Lagos, Nigeria 2024 with 70 other universities from 35 African countries,” Al-Erian said.
“Incredibly, AUC’s swimming team dominated the entire swimming events, securing an unprecedented 39 gold medals, 28 silver medals and seven bronze medals. Simultaneously, the judo team excelled in the arena. Their outstanding performance earned them two gold medals and one silver. Same goes with our karate champion who secured a gold medal.
The tennis team brought home two medals, one gold in the mixed doubles and one bronze in the male singles, while the table tennis star athletes really raised the bar with two gold medals (one in male singles and one in female singles) and one silver medal in the mixed doubles. A special shout-out to our taekwondo player for securing a fantastic gold medal. Lastly, our chess team fought valiantly and brought home a silver medal in the male category,” Al-Erian added.
With AUC winning first place, the following universities took from second to fifth respectively: The University of Lagos State in second, The University of Lagos third, The University of Ghana fourth and The University of Development Studies in fifth.
This year’s FASU Games marks its 11th edition.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 17 October, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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