Sara Samir Elsayed Mohamed Ahmed (
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
: ; born 1 January 1998) is an Egyptian
weightlifter
Olympic weightlifting, or Olympic-style weightlifting (officially named Weightlifting), is a sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with each athlete trying to successfully lif ...
who won a bronze medal in the women's 69 kg event at the
2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She won the gold medal in the
women's 76kg event at the
2022 World Weightlifting Championships
The 2022 World Weightlifting Championships was a weightlifting competition held in Bogotá, Colombia in December 2022. It was scheduled to be held in Chongqing, China but this changed in March 2022 as a result of COVID-19 measures in China. The ...
held in Bogotá, Colombia. Originally from the Ismailia Governorate, Ahmed was encouraged to take part in weightlifting by her family and was competing internationally by 2012. At the senior level, she has earned gold medals at the Mediterranean and African Games, as well as the Arab Championships. In Rio de Janeiro, she became the first Arab woman to receive an Olympic weightlifting medal and the first Egyptian woman to receive an Olympic medal on the podium in any discipline.
Early life
Ahmed was born in the village of Al-Huaniya in Egypt's
Ismailia Governorate
Ismailia Governorate is one of the Canal Zone governorates of Egypt. Located in the northeastern part of the country, its capital is the city of Ismailia. It was named after Ismail Pasha, who as Ottoman Viceroy of Egypt, oversaw the country dur ...
. Her father (who died in 2015)
and older brother were national competitors in weightlifting, which inspired her to take up the sport in 2010. Although her participation in the sport interfered with her studies somewhat, she received encouragement and support for her family and found success in local and regional tournaments, eventually earning herself a spot on the Egyptian national team.
Career
Ahmed's international career began at the 2012 Junior African Championships in
Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
, population_note =
, population_urban =
, population_metro = 2658816
, population_density_km2 =
, timezone1 = CET
, utc_offset1 ...
, where she won gold in the 63 kg division. She repeated that feat at the Youth edition, held in the same city, as well as the 2013 Youth World Championships in
Tashkent
Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2 ...
. Her first senior-level competition was the
2013 Mediterranean Games
The 2013 Mediterranean Games ( tr, 2013 Akdeniz Oyunları), officially known as the XVII Mediterranean Games ( tr, XVII Akdeniz Oyunları) and commonly known as Mersin 2013, was an international multi-sport event held from 20 to 30 June 2013 i ...
, where she won the clean & jerk portion and was third in the snatch, leaving her second overall behind Turkey's
Sibel Şimşek
Sibel Şimşek (; born October 10, 1984, in Osmancık Çorum, Turkey) is a European champion Turkish people, Turkish weightlifter competing in the Women's 63 kg division. She is tall and weighs .
Şimşek is a member of the Kocaeli Büyü ...
(
Romela Begaj of Albania had the same total, but a higher body weight). She then bumped up to the 69 kg division and won that category at the 2014 African Youth and Junior Championships, then returned to 63 kg and earned gold at the
2014 Summer Youth Olympics
The 2014 Summer Youth Olympics (), officially known as the II Summer Youth Olympic Games , and commonly known as Nanjing 2014 ( zh, c=南京2014, p=Nánjīng Èr Líng yī sì), were the second Youth Olympic Games, Summer Youth Olympic Games, an ...
. She competed one last time in the 63 kg division at the
2014 World Championships in
Almaty, where she placed 12th, and then returned to 69 kg and captured gold at the
2015 African Games
The 11th African Games took place from September 4–19, 2015 in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. This edition marked the 50th anniversary of the Games, as well as their return to Brazzaville, which hosted the first edition in 1965.
Host aw ...
and Youth and Junior World Championships; at the latter she was named the Best Female Lifter.
She placed fourth at the
2015 World Championships in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...
and took home gold at that year's Arab Championships held in
Sharm el-Sheikh
Sharm El Sheikh ( ar, شرم الشيخ, ), commonly abbreviated to Sharm, is an Egyptian city on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in South Sinai Governorate, on the coastal strip along the Red Sea. Its population is approximately 53,670 ...
.
Ahmed represented
Egypt at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the
women's 69 kg event, skipping her high school exams in order to compete.
To prepare for the Games, she attended training camps in Uzbekistan, the United Arab Emirates, and Brazil.
In Rio she won a bronze medal, lifting a combined weight of 255 kg.
She thus became the first Arab woman to win an Olympic weightlifting medal and the first Egyptian woman to win an Olympic medal,
although
Abeer Abdelrahman retroactively received a silver medal from the
women's 75 kg weightlifting event at the 2012 Summer Olympics, as all three medalists in that event tested positive for banned substances and she was upgraded from fifth to third after the Games.
Ahmed was also the first Egyptian to win a weightlifting medal since 1948, with the caveat that Abdelrahman and
Tarek Yehia retroactively received medals from the London Games.
Later in the day,
Mohamed Ihab joined her in this distinction by taking bronze in the
men's 77 kg.
Upon her return she was honored in a ceremony held by Ismailia governor Yassin Taher, received congratulatory messages from Egyptian president
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi; (born 19 November 1954) is an Egyptian politician and retired military officer who has served as the sixth and current president of Egypt since 2014. Before retiring as a general in the Egyptian mil ...
,
and was given 500,000 Egyptian pounds.
Soon after receiving the medal, she declared her intention to train for gold at the
2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...
.
Following her victory, she encouraged the Egyptian government to do more to support its athletes, including granting more leniency for athletes in terms of taking college-preparatory exams. She has no special nutritional routine and is coached by the national team's Khaled Korany.
Ahmed won gold in both portions of the 69 kg division at the
2018 Mediterranean Games
The 2018 Mediterranean Games ( es, Juegos Mediterráneos de 2018), officially known as the XVIII Mediterranean Games ( es, XVIII Juegos Mediterráneos) and commonly known as Tarragona 2018, was an international multi-sport event held from 22 Jun ...
.
The following month, at the
2018 Junior World Weightlifting Championships
The 2018 Junior World Weightlifting Championships were held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, itali ...
in
Tashkent
Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2 ...
,
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...
, she won all three categories of the 69 kg tournament.
At the
senior edition that year, she was third in the snatch and second in the clean and jerk, which placed her second overall in the
71 kg division.
She is engaged to another Egyptian Olympic weightlifter,
Ragab Abdelhay
Ragab Abdelhay Saad Abdelrazek Abdalla ( ar, رجب عبد الحي سعد عبد الرازق عبد الله, born 4 March 1991), known as Ragab Abdalla or Ragab Abdelhay, is an Egyptian weightlifter. He finished fifth at the 2012 Olympics ( ...
.
Major results
See also
*
Muslim women in sport
Modern Muslim female athletes have achieved success in a variety of sports, including volleyball, tennis, association football, fencing, and basketball. In the 2016 Summer Olympics, fourteen women from Muslim-majority countries won medals, partic ...
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed, Sara
1998 births
Living people
Egyptian female weightlifters
Olympic weightlifters of Egypt
Olympic bronze medalists for Egypt
Olympic medalists in weightlifting
Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Weightlifters at the 2016 Summer Olympics
People from Ismailia Governorate
Weightlifters at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics
Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Egypt
Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Egypt
Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Egypt
Competitors at the 2013 Mediterranean Games
African Games gold medalists for Egypt
African Games medalists in weightlifting
World Weightlifting Championships medalists
Mediterranean Games medalists in weightlifting
Competitors at the 2015 African Games
Youth Olympic gold medalists for Egypt
21st-century Egyptian women