Paramilitary policemen listen to instructions in front of the logo of the upcomming 15th IAAF World Championships at the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, in Beijing, China, August 17, 2015 (Reuters)
Egypt can realistically hope for an Athletics medal at the IAAF World Championships from 22-30 August for the first time in the country's history.
Three Egyptian athletes are present in Beijing and, for the first time in Egyptian history, they have all qualified by achieving entry standard.
Ehab Abdel-Rahman (Javelin throw), Mostafa Hesham Elgamal (Hammer throw) and Mostafa Amr (Shot Put) carry a lot of hopes and expectations after booking their ticket to the Chinese capital.
"Abdel-Rahman and Elgamal are favorites for one of the top three places in the championships," Egyptian Athletics Association chairman Walid Ata was quoted as saying on Ahram's daily newspaper earlier this week.
Ata may sound too optimistic though, given that Abdel-Rahman is not at his peak this season. He will need to break his personal best of 89.21m he threw in Shanghai on 18 May 2014 as he is quite behind 2015 top performer Julius Yego of Kenya (91.39m).
Courtesy of facebook "Abdel-Rahman
"I will do my best to get a medal for Egypt and break my own record." said Abdel-Rahman who has already qualified for next year's Rio De Janeiro Olympics games.
Mostafa Elgamal threw 79.90m to become the world's third best hammer thrower in 2015 although his personal best is set at 81.27m, achieved in Cairo on 21 March 2014.
Courtesy of facebook " Mostafa Elgamal
The 27-year-old Ahly star, who finished second in the 2nd IAAF Continental Cup last year, needs to improve to challenge the 2015 world's best performer Pawel Fajdek (83.93m) of Poland and Hungary's Krisztián Pars (79.91m).
It is a different story for 19-year old Mostafa Amr who takes part in his first senior World Championships.
Courtesy of facebook " Mostafa Amr
Amr, who finished eighth in the 2014 World Junior Championships, realised his personal best on 28 February, throwing 20.57 in Cairo.
He seems far behind this year's top performers Ryan Whiting of USA (21.80m), Germany's David Storl (21.26m) and USA's Ryan Crouser (21.14m). But it will be a great experience for him to be tested among the elites ahead of next year's Olympic Games.
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