Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

competed in the

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

for the first, and only, time at the

1984 Winter Olympics The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games (Serbo-Croatian and Slovene: ''XIV. Zimske olimpijske igre''; Cyrillic: XIV Зимске олимпијске игре; mk, XIV Зимски олимписки игр ...

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

. Its only participant was alpine skier Jamil El Reedy, who competed in three disciplines, but did not win a medal.

Background

Prior to 1984, Egypt had sent athletes to eleven editions of the Summer Olympic Games (three times as the

United Arab Republic The United Arab Republic (UAR; ar, الجمهورية العربية المتحدة, al-Jumhūrīyah al-'Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah) was a sovereign state in the Middle East from 1958 until 1971. It was initially a political union between Eg ...

), the 1906 Intercalated Games, and equestrian at the 1956 Summer Olympics.Th
1912 Olympic report
lists Egypt as having sent a fencer to those Games, but there i
uncertainty
as to whether he actually competed. The 1984 Winter Games were Egypt's first, and only, appearance at the Winter Olympics. The nation entered one athlete, Jamil El-Reedy, to the alpine skiing tournament, where he competed in three disciplines, but failed to win a medal.

Alpine skiing

El-Reedy was born in Cairo, to an Egyptian father and an American mother who taught English at the American University in Cairo. He moved to Plattsburgh, New York when his family left Egypt following the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 Ju ...

. Coached by his father, he became a successful skier in high school, training on

Whiteface Mountain Whiteface Mountain is the fifth-highest mountain in the U.S. state of New York, and one of the High Peaks of the Adirondack Mountains. Set apart from most of the other High Peaks, the summit offers a 360-degree view of the Adirondacks and clear ...

. He was selected to represent Egypt at the 1984 Games at the age of 18, despite never having competed internationally, and in preparation spent 40 days in an Egyptian cave filled with snakes and scorpions to strengthen his mental resolve. At the Games he competed in three events, with his best placement being 46th out of 101 entrants in the men's slalom. He was also 60th out of 61 participants in the men's downhill, finishing over a minute behind the penultimate finisher, Greece's Lazaros Arkhontopoulos, and failed to finish the men's giant slalom after a fall on the first run. ;Men

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Egypt At The 1984 Winter Olympics Nations at the 1984 Winter Olympics

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

1984 in Egyptian sport