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 Mediter ...

, which is represented by the

Egyptian Olympic Committee The Egyptian Olympic Committee ( ar, اللجنة الأولمبية المصرية, abbreviated as EOC) is a non-profit organization serving as the National Olympic Committee of Egypt and a part of the International Olympic Committee. History ...

(EOC), competed at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

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.

Background

Prior to 1996, Egypt had sent athletes to fifteen 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 The 1906 Intercalated Games or 1906 Olympic Games was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated in Athens, Greece. They were at the time considered to be Olympic Games and were referred to as the "Second International Olympic Games i ...

equestrian at the 1956 Summer Olympics The equestrian events at the 1956 Summer Olympics were held in Stockholm due to the Australian quarantine regulations and included dressage, eventing, and show jumping. All three disciplines had both individual and team competitions. The com ...

, and 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 ...

.Th
1912 Olympic report
lists Egypt as having sent a fencer to those Games, but there i
uncertainty
as to whether he actually competed. 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.

Competitors

The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games.Egypt at the 1996 Summer Olympics
/ref>

Results by event

Boxing

Egypt qualified four boxers for the Olympic tournament. Three of them, middleweight

Kabary Salem Kabary Salem (born 12 February 1968) is an Egyptian former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2005 and challenged for the WBO super-middleweight title in 2004. In December 2020, he was arrested in Egypt and extradited to the United St ...

, light-heavyweight Mohamed Mahmoud, and heavyweight Amrou Moustafa had placed fifth at the

1995 World Amateur Boxing Championships The Men's 1995 World Amateur Boxing Championships were held in the Deutschlandhalle in Berlin, Germany from May 4 to May 15. The eighth edition of this competition, held a year before the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, was organised by the ...

. Salim had also been the light-middleweight champion at the

1991 Mediterranean Games The XI Mediterranean Games, commonly known as the 1991 Mediterranean Games, were the 11th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Athens, Greece, from 28 June to 12 July 1991, where 2,762 athletes (2,176 men and 586 women) from 18 countries p ...

and had competed in that category in the 1992 Olympic tournament. 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 René Monse (28 September 1968 in Potsdam – 8 June 2017) was a German heavyweight boxer best known for having won a bronze medal at the world championships in 1995. Monse died in 2017 after what his former promoter described as a lengthy illn ...

of Germany in the round of 16."Official Report", pgs. 158-159.

Handball

Egypt qualified for the men's handball tournament by placing sixth at the

1995 World Men's Handball Championship The 1995 World Men's Handball Championship was the 14th team handball World Championship. It was held in Iceland between 7–21 May 1995. France won the championship. Games were played in Reykjavík, Hafnarfjörður, Akureyri and Kópavogur K� ...

, at the time the highest-ever placement for a squad from Africa. They had also been the gold medalists at the

1995 All-Africa Games The 6th All-Africa Games were played from 13 to 23 September 1995 in Harare, Zimbabwe. 46 countries participated in eighteen sports. South Africa, having previously been banned from competition by the other African nations, was invited to the ...

. Half of the Egyptians were veterans of the 1992 tournament: Hosam Abdallah, Ahmed El-Attar, Ashraf Mabrouk Awaad, Ahmed El-Awady,

Ahmed Belal Ahmad Farag Mohamed Belal ( ar, أحمد فرج محمد بلال ; born August 20, 1980) is an Egyptian football striker. Career Ahmed Belal started playing professionally for the Egyptian team, Al Ahly, since 2000. He competed for the club ...

, Gohar Mohamed,

Yasser Mahmoud Yasser Mahmoud (born 5 November 1975) is an Egyptian former fencer. He competed in the individual and team épée events at the 2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), ...

, and

Ayman Abdel Hamid Soliman Ayman Abdel Hamid Soliman (born August 5, 1966) is an Egyptian handball player. He competed for Egypt's national team at the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics. References 1966 births Living people Egyptian male handball players Olympic ha ...

. Abdallah also served as the Egyptian flagbearer in the opening ceremonies of the Games. 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."Official Report", pgs. 249-255. ;Preliminary group B ---- ---- ---- ---- ;5th place match ;Team roster

Judo

Egypt sent two judokas to the 1996 Olympic tournament.

Bassel El Gharbawy Bassel El-Gharbawy (born 10 April 1977) is an Egyptian judoka. He competed at three Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer ...

, 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. 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."Official Report", pg. 309. Heba Hefny, competing in the heavyweight category, was a veteran of the 1992 Olympic tournament, where she had lost her opening bout, and attended the 1996 Olympics as the runner-up in both the heavyweight and open classes at the 1996 African Judo Championships. 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 Beata Elżbieta Maksymow-Wendt (born 27 July 1967) is a Polish judoka. She competed at the 1992, 1996 and the 2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug ...

of Poland. In the repechage, she lost against Christine Cicot of France, one of the upcoming bronze medalists."Official Report", pg. 314 ;Men ;Women

Rowing

Egypt entered a single rower,

Ali Ibrahim Ali Ibrahim ( ar, على إبراهيم, 19 December 1971 – 28 March 2010) was an Egyptian rower who competed at four Olympic Games. He also won multiple World Rowing Cup medals, including three silver medals and two bronze medals. Life an ...

, 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 The World Rowing Cup is an international rowing competition organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It began in 1997 and comprises three regattas (apart from in 2001 when there were four) held throughout early summer. In each even ...

and 17th at the

1995 World Rowing Championships File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strik ...

. 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 Robert Norman Waddell (born 7 January 1975) is a New Zealand Olympic Gold Medalist and double World Champion Single sculler rower, and America's Cup yachtsman. He is a triple New Zealand Supreme 'Halberg Awards' Sportsperson of the year winner ...

, for an overall placement of eighth."Official Report", pg. 320 ;Men

Shooting

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, but had been the gold medalist in the discipline at the

. He also earned gold at the 1993 African Shooting Championships and bronze at the 1995 edition. Mostafa Hamdy, meanwhile, had been fourth and seventh at the 1993 and 1995 African Shooting Championships respectively. Khorshed and Hamdy finished 45th and 47th respectively and failed to advance to the final."Official Report", pg. 350 ;Men

Swimming

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, 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 The 100 metre freestyle is often considered to be the highlight (Blue Ribbon event) of the sport of swimming, like 100 metres in the sport of Athletics. The first swimmer to break the one-minute barrier (long course) was Johnny Weissmuller, in 1 ...

and

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

and was eliminated from both after finishing 47th and 46th overall respectively."Official Report", pg. 20-31

Rania Elwani Dr. Rania Elwani ( ar, رانيا علواني; born 14 October 1977)Elwani's bio page
from the website of th ...

, a veteran of the 1992 Olympics, had won three gold medals at the

(in the 50, 100, and 200 metre freestyle races), in addition to silver in the 100 metre backstroke and butterfly events. She competed in the 50,

100 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

, and 200 m freestyle events, but never advanced beyond the heats."Official Report", pg. 21-23 ;Men ;Women

Weightlifting

Egypt's sole representative in

weightlifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift Weight training#Equipment, weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various t ...

was Tharwat Bendary, a veteran of two editions of the

All-Africa Games The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union (AU) with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (AN ...

and several

World Weightlifting Championships The World Weightlifting Championships is an event organised by International Weightlifting Federation (IWF). The first competition, held in March 1891, was won by Edward Lawrence Levy of England. Athletes compete in a total of 20 weight categori ...

. 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."Official Report", pg. 420

Wrestling

Moustafa Ramada Hussain, Egypt's representative in

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

, was the son of Mohamed Abdul Ramada Hussain, who competed at the Olympics in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

, and the brother of Mohyeldin Ramada Hussain who had appeared at the Games in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

. Moustafa was a veteran of the

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

and 1992 tournaments, and competed in the Greco-Roman 90 kg division. He was defeated by

Maik Bullmann Maik Bullmann (also known as Mike Bullmann, born 25 April 1967) is a German Greco-Roman wrestler. He is an Olympic champion and three-time World Champion. Olympics Bullmann competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona where he received a ...

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."Official Report", pg. 432 ;Greco-Roman