Egypt at the 1996 Summer Olympics

Egypt at the 1996 Summer Olympics
IOC code	EGY
NOC	Egyptian Olympic Committee
Website	www.egyptianolympic.org (in Arabic and English)
in Atlanta
Competitors	29 in 8 sports
Flag bearer	Hosam Abdallah
Medals	Gold 0 Silver 0 Bronze 0 Total 0
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960–1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games ––––  United Arab Republic (1960, 1964)

Egypt, which is represented by the Egyptian Olympic Committee (EOC), competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States from July 19 to August 4, 1996. Twenty-nine Egyptian athletes, twenty-seven men and two women, competed in boxing, handball, judo, rowing, shooting, swimming, weightlifting, and wrestling, but the nation did not win any medals.^[1]

Prior to 1996, Egypt had sent athletes to fifteen editions of the Summer Olympic Games (three times as the United Arab Republic), the 1906 Intercalated Games, equestrian at the 1956 Summer Olympics, and the 1984 Winter Olympics.^{[note 1]} Egypt's 1996 delegation was the smallest since 1976 and chose Hosam Abdallah, an Olympic veteran in handball, as its flagbearer in the opening ceremony.^[2][3]

The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games.^[4]

Sport	Men	Women	Total
Boxing	4	–	4
Handball	16	0	16
Judo	1	1	2
Rowing	1	0	1
Shooting	2	0	2
Swimming	1	1	2
Weightlifting	1	–	1
Wrestling	1	–	1
Total	27	2	29

Egypt qualified four boxers for the Olympic tournament. Three of them, middleweight Kabary Salem, light-heavyweight Mohamed Mahmoud, and heavyweight Amrou Moustafa had placed fifth at the 1995 World Amateur Boxing Championships. Salim had also been the light-middleweight champion at the 1991 Mediterranean Games^[5] and had competed in that category in the 1992 Olympic tournament.^[6] All three were eliminated in the first round. The fourth, super-heavyweight Ahmed El-Said, received a bye in the round of 32, and was defeated by René Monse of Germany in the round of 16.^[7]

Athlete	Event	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Final
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result
Kabary Salem	Middleweight	Hernández (CUB) L 11-2	Did not advance
Mohamed Mahmoud	Light-Heavyweight	Rojas (CUB) L 20-9	Did not advance
Amrou Moustafa	Heavyweight	Kshinin (RUS) L 17-4	Did not advance
Ahmed El-Said	Super-Heavyweight	bye	Monse (GER) L 12-9	Did not advance

Egypt qualified for the men's handball tournament by placing sixth at the 1995 World Men's Handball Championship, at the time the highest-ever placement for a squad from Africa.^[8] They had also been the gold medalists at the 1995 All-Africa Games.^[9] Half of the Egyptians were veterans of the 1992 tournament: Hosam Abdallah,^[10] Ahmed El-Attar,^[11] Ashraf Mabrouk Awaad,^[12] Ahmed El-Awady,^[13] Ahmed Belal,^[14] Gohar Mohamed,^[15] Yasser Mahmoud,^[16] and Ayman Abdel Hamid Soliman.^[17] Abdallah also served as the Egyptian flagbearer in the opening ceremonies of the Games.^[2] In its first three matches, Egypt defeated Algeria 19-16, Brazil 31-20, and Germany 24-22, before losing to 25-20 to France and 20-19 to eventual silver medalists Spain, which caused them to be eliminated from the tournament. In the ranking round, the country was bested by Russia and thus finished in sixth.^[18]

Preliminary group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
France	5	4	0	1	145	114	+31	8
Spain	5	4	0	1	114	97	+17	8
Egypt	5	3	0	2	113	103	+10	6
Germany	5	3	0	2	121	112	+9	6
Algeria	5	0	1	4	95	117	−22	1
Brazil	5	0	1	4	100	145	−45	1

24 July 14:30	Egypt	19–16	Algeria

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25 July 19:00	Egypt	31–20	Brazil

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27 July 14:30	Egypt	24–22	Germany

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29 July 10:00	France	25–20	Egypt

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31 July 10:00	Spain	20–19	Egypt

5th place match

2 August 19:00	Russia	29–26	Egypt

Team roster

No. Pos. Name Date of birth (age) Height App. Goals Club B Hosam Abdallah (1966-09-08)8 September 1966 (aged 29) 5 4 F Sameh Abdel Waress (1971-08-03)3 August 1971 (aged 24) 6 19 F Ayman El- Alfy (1974-09-27)27 September 1974 (aged 21) 1.82 m 6 5 Port Said Club B Ahmed Ali (1973-01-10)10 January 1973 (aged 23) 6 2 B Ahmed El- Attar (1967-04-13)13 April 1967 (aged 29) 2.02 m 5 25 B Ashraf Mabrouk Awaad (1972-06-01)1 June 1972 (aged 24) 1.95 m 6 18 Al-Ahly GK Ahmed El- Awady (1970-01-03)3 January 1970 (aged 26) 2 0 B Ahmed Belal (1968-03-12)12 March 1968 (aged 28) 1.90 m 5 8 El-Olympi P Amro El- Geioushy (1971-07-01)1 July 1971 (aged 25) 6 22 El-Olympi B Saber Hussein (1974-02-20)20 February 1974 (aged 22) 1.94 m 1 0 Al-Ahly F Khaled Mahmoud (1969-12-15)15 December 1969 (aged 26) 1.81 m 1 3 B Yasser Mahmoud (1964-02-23)23 February 1964 (aged 32) 1 0 P Gohar Mohamed (1973-01-31)31 January 1973 (aged 23) 1.93 m 5 11 Al-Ahly GK Mohamed Bakir El- Nakib (1974-04-06)6 April 1974 (aged 22) 1.92 m 6 0 El-Olympi GK Ayman Abdel Hamid Soliman (1966-08-05)5 August 1966 (aged 29) 4 0 F Mahmoud Soliman (1972-08-27)27 August 1972 (aged 23) 6 21

Egypt sent two judokas to the 1996 Olympic tournament. Bassel El Gharbawy, who competed in the half-heavyweight division, was the reigning African Champion and bronze medalist in the open division, as well as the 1994 Junior World bronze medalist.^[19] After receiving a bye in the round of 32, El Gharbawy was defeated by Raymond Stevens of Great Britain in the round of 16 and eliminated from the tournament.^[20] Heba Hefny, competing in the heavyweight category, was a veteran of the 1992 Olympic tournament, where she had lost her opening bout,^[21] and attended the 1996 Olympics as the runner-up in both the heavyweight and open classes at the 1996 African Judo Championships.^[22] She received a bye in the opening round and defeated Heidi Burnett of Australia in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals, where she was overcome by Beata Maksymowa of Poland. In the repechage, she lost against Christine Cicot of France, one of the upcoming bronze medalists.^[23]

Men

Athlete	Event	Preliminary	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Repechage 1	Repechage 2	Repechage 3	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Bassel El Gharbawy	−95 kg	—	BYE	Stevens (GBR) L	Did not advance

Women

Athlete	Event	Preliminary	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Repechage 1	Repechage 2	Repechage 3	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Heba Hefny	−72 kg	—	—	BYE	Burnett (AUS) W	Maksymowa (POL) L	Christine Cicot (FRA) L	Did not advance

Egypt entered a single rower, Ali Ibrahim, into the Olympic tournament. Ibrahim had begun his international career only a year prior and had competed exclusively in the single sculls, achieving one second-place finish at the 1995 World Rowing Cup and 17th at the 1995 World Rowing Championships.^[24] He was third in his heat in the opening round, but was second in his repechage heat, which qualified him for the semifinals, where he was fourth in his heat and missed qualifying for the "A" Final. In the "B" Final, he finished second, behind Rob Waddell, for an overall placement of eighth.^[25]

Men

Athlete(s)	Event	Heats		Repechage		Semifinals		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Ali Ibrahim	Single sculls	7:41.17	3	7:45.64	2 Q	7:22.43	4	6:52.11	8

Egypt entered two shooters into the Olympic tournament, both in the skeet event. Mohamed Khorshed was a veteran of three prior Olympics, never placing higher than 33rd,^[26] but had been the gold medalist in the discipline at the 1995 All-Africa Games.^[27] He also earned gold at the 1993 African Shooting Championships and bronze at the 1995 edition.^[28] Mostafa Hamdy, meanwhile, had been fourth and seventh at the 1993 and 1995 African Shooting Championships respectively.^[29] Khorshed and Hamdy finished 45th and 47th respectively and failed to advance to the final.^[30]

Men

Athlete	Events	Qualification		Final		Rank
		Score	Rank	Score	Rank
Mostafa Hamdy	Skeet	112	=49	Did not advance		=49
Mohamed Khorshed	Skeet	113	=45	Did not advance		=45

Egypt was represented by two swimmers in the Olympic tournament. Tamer Zinhom had set national records in the 50 metre freestyle and butterfly events at the 1995 Egyptian Championships,^[31] but placed fifth in his heat and 47th overall in the 50 m freestyle event at the Games and failed to advance. He also competed in the 100 m freestyle and butterfly and was eliminated from both after finishing 47th and 46th overall respectively.^[32] Rania Elwani, a veteran of the 1992 Olympics, had won three gold medals at the 1995 All-Africa Games (in the 50, 100, and 200 metre freestyle races), in addition to silver in the 100 metre backstroke and butterfly events.^[33] She competed in the 50, 100, and 200 m freestyle events, but never advanced beyond the heats.^[34]

Men

Athletes	Events	Heat		Finals
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Tamer Zinhom	50 m freestyle	24.02	47	Did not advance
	100 m freestyle	52.16	47	Did not advance
	100 m butterfly	56.46	=46	Did not advance

Women

Athletes	Events	Heat		Finals
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Rania Elwani	50 m freestyle	26.26	18	Did not advance
	100 m freestyle	56.89	19	Did not advance
	200 m freestyle	2:06.94	34	Did not advance

Egypt's sole representative in weightlifting was Tharwat Bendary, a veteran of two editions of the All-Africa Games and several World Weightlifting Championships.^[35] He competed in the 99 kg class, lifting 167.5 kg in the snatch and 205.0 kg in the clean and jerk for a total score of 372.5, which ranked him 11th in the tournament.^[36]

Athletes	Events	Snatch		Clean & jerk		Total	Rank
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Tharwat Bendary	-99 kg	167.5	=12	205	=10	372.5	11

Moustafa Ramada Hussain, Egypt's representative in wrestling, was the son of Mohamed Abdul Ramada Hussain, who competed at the Olympics in 1952, and the brother of Mohyeldin Ramada Hussain who had appeared at the Games in 1992. Moustafa was a veteran of the 1988 and 1992 tournaments,^[37] and competed in the Greco-Roman 90 kg division. He was defeated by Maik Bullmann of Germany, the eventual bronze medalist, in the opening round and bested Abdel Aziz Essafoui of Morocco in the first classification round before losing to Marek Švec of the Czech Republic and placing 14th overall.^[38]

Greco-Roman

Athlete	Event	Round 1	Round 2	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Final	Repechage Round 1	Repechage Round 2	Repechage Round 3	Repechage Round 4	Repechage Round 5	Bronze medal Bout
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result
Moustafa Ramada Hussain	-90 kg	Bullmann (GER) L 3-0	did not advance				Essafoui (MAR) W 4-0	Švec (CZE) L 8-4	did not advance

• "The Competition Results" (PDF). The Official Report of the Centennial Olympic Games. III. Atlanta: The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games: 249–255. 1997. Retrieved 2017-04-30.