On 23 February, athletic types and sport fans gathered together for the El-Fit Fitness Carnival at Smart Village, located outside of Cairo. Over 2,000 people attended the event.

Competition mounted between the 180 athletes, who competed as individuals divided by gender and also as groups of four, testing their strength, agility and coordination until one man, one woman, and one group was crowned with the title of El-Fit.

The crowd cheered as the judges announced that Amr Ismail took the title of fittest man in Egypt and Carina the fittest woman.

In the groups competition, the Nile branch of Gold’s Gym took home the title.

Many well-known names in fitness and wellness centres displayed their services throughout the day, and promoted their activities.

Apart from the El-Fit challenge, people enjoyed free sessions from different local instructors as well as a four-hour Zumba marathon.

There was something for all the family to do, including fitness video games, paintball, kickboxing, and yoga.

Behind the initiative stood In The Zone, or ITZ, a company founded in 2012 by former Ahly handball player Adam El-Zoghby, and a number of partners.

Serag El-Dine Magdi, one of the founders of the event, told Ahram Online that the idea behind the event had initially been to organise an event that forms a meeting point for fitness enthusiasts from all over Egypt where they can challenge their abilities and compete. After that, it developed into an entertaining sports event for all the members of the family.

Mohamed Helmy, an ITZ partner, said that there had been collaboration with many sports communities and enthusiasts for the event, including the GlobalBiking Initiative in Egypt, Egyflow, and Cairo runners.

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