Egypt performed well in the 2016 Rio de Janiro Paralympics games that took place between 7 and 18 September, collecting a total of 12 medals – including three golds. The men's sitting volleyball team won the last bronze, defeating Brazil 3-2 on Sunday in the third place decider. All individual medals were won in the Powerlifting discipline, except for Mostafa Mohamed Fathalla's silver in the Athletics Men's 100m. Egypt finished 30th in the medal table among all participating countries. China led the table with 239 medals including 107 golds, before Great Britain with 147 medals (67 gold), and Ukraine, 117 (41 gold). Egypt's best results ever in the Paralympics was in Atlanta in 1996 when they collected 30 medals, eight gold, 11 silver and 11 bronze. The North African country sent 45 heroes to compete in five declines -- 17 in powerlifting, two in swimming, seven in athletics, seven in table tennis, in addition to the men's sitting volleyball team that consists of 12 players. Egypt won three gold medals; as Sherif Osman won his third Paralympics gold in the men's -59 kg, Randa Tag clinched her first gold – but third ever- medal in the women's – 86 and Mohamed Aldeeb won his second gold in the men's -97 kg. In addition to Fathalla's, the Pharaohs collected another four silvers; two by women Rehab Radwan in the -50 kg and Fatma Omar in the -61 kg and two by men Mohamed El-Sayed in -107 kg and Amr Farouk Mosaad +107 kg. Beside the men's sitting volleyball's bronze, Shaaban El-Dosouky won the men's -65 kg bronze with Amal Hanafy and Amany El-Desouky both won women's silver in -67 kg and -73 kg respectively.
Sherif Osman (Gold) Egypt's first and most remarkable medal was won in the men's -59 kg by Sherif Osman, 34, who clinched the Paralympics gold for the third successive time – after winning Beijing 2008 and London 2012 gold. Osman lifted 211 kg, 13 more than Ali Jawad of Great Brittan who won silver- to break his own Paralympics and world records with a 0.5kg difference. "I feel I'm in the middle of the road, because I have a very big dream to win six gold medals in the Paralympic Games,” Osman told reporters after the event.
Randa Tag (Gold) The second gold was won by the 28-year-old powerlifter, Randa Tag Mahmoud in the women's – 86 kg lifting 130kg, 10.5 more than silver medalist Jordan's Tharwa Al-Hajaj. Although this is Randa's first gold, the Ismailia-born athlete won two silvers -- in 2008 and 2012. She is expecting a warm reception in her village Al-Hijaz.
Mohamed Aldeeb (Gold) In the Powerlifting men's -97 kg event, the Egyptian flag has been raised again with Mohamed Mamdouh Aldeeb who clinched the country's third gold. El-Gharbia-born Aldeeb, 37, lifted 237kg, four more than China's Qi Dong to clinch his second gold after 2012's.
Rehab Ahmed Radwan (Silver) Egyptian Rehab Radwan won silver in the women's -50 kg lifting 104kg, four less than Ukraine's Lidia Soloviova who won gold and two more than China's Thi Linh Phuong Dong. Born on 2 March 1991, Rehab started the sport in 2012, one year before she made it into her national team. She qualified to Rio winning gold in the 2015 Europe Open in Hungary.
Fatma Omar (Silver) The competition was tough for Fatma Omar in the women's -61 kg as she only lost her gold bid for two kilograms difference to Nigeria's Lucy Ejike who lifted 142 kg. Yan Yang of China won bronze lifting 128 kg. Fatma wrote history being the first ever Paralympian Egyptian woman to win powerlifting medals in five different tournaments. The long-time champion, 43, won four golds: in Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012 -- besides a silver in Rio 2016.
Mohamed El-Sayed Ahmed (Silver) Mohamed El-Sayed Ahmed lifted 233 kg in the men's -107 kg event to win silver with five kg less than champion Pavlos Mamalos of Greece. Born in El-Gharbia in 1982, Mohamed El-Sayed won bronze in the 2015 Congo tournament to qualify to Rio and win his first Paralympic games medal.
Amr Farouk Mosaad (Silver) Amr Farouk Mosaad lifted 235 kg to win silver in the men's +107 kg, only one kilogram more than Jamil Elshebli of Jordan who won bronze. The two Arab heroes were way below gold medalist Siamand Rahman who was able to lift full 305 kg. The 24-year-old Egyptian pharmacist only joined the national team last year, a mere one-year after starting the sport.
Mostafa Fathalla Ali (Silver) The only athletic winner from Egypt, Mostafa Fathalla Ali, won the men's 100m - T37 silver, finishing second after South Africa's Charl Du Toit who finished in 11:45 seconds, 00:09 before the Egyptian and his fellow South African Fanie van der Merwe who placed third. The 29-year-old Alexandrian who joined the national team in 2009 has been nicknamed the Egyptian Bolt among his teammates. He won a series of medals before but this is his first ever Paralympics Games title.
Shaaban El-Dosouky (Bronze) Shaaban Ibrahim El-Desouky lifted 193 kg in the men's -65 kg to win bronze, seven less than China's Peng Hu and 25 less than gold medalist Paul Kehinde. Born on 14 September in Cairo, Shaaban is a history-maker, winning five Paralympic games medals, silver in Sydney 2000, gold in Athens 2004, bronze in Beijing 2008 and bronze in London 2012.
Amal Mahmoud Hanafy (Bronze) Clinching bronze in the women's -67 kg, Amal Hanafy, 38, won her third Paralympic games medal – after 2008 Beijing silver and a 2012 London gold.
Amany Ali Ibrahim El-Desouky (Bronze) Amany Ali Ibrahim El-Desouky lifted 127 kg in the women's -73 kg event to win bronze after Nigeria's Ndid Nwosu and France's Souhad Ghazouani. The 40-year-old Powerlifter won bronze in the 2008 games.
Men's Sitting Volleyball img alt='Men's Sitting Volleyball' title='Men's Sitting Volleyball' src='http://english.ahram.org.eg/Media/News/2016/9/19/2016-636098890244766435-476.jpg' / After a very tough competition with hosts Brazil, Egypt's sitting volleyball team clinched bronze on Sunday. The team's last bronze was in the Athens tournament in 2004.
All of Egypt's medals in the Paralympics: 1976 Toronto: 8 medals (5G, 2S, 1B) 1980 Arnhem: 14 medals (4G, 7S,3B) 1984 Stoke Mandeville: 7 medals (1G, 1S, 5B) 1988 Seoul: 8 medals (1G, 3S, 4B) 1992 Barcelona: 20 Medals (7G, 6S, 7B) 1996 Atlanta: 30 medals (8G, 11S, 11B) 2000 Sydney: 28 medals (6G, 12S, 10B) 2004 Athens: 23 medals (6G, 9S, 8B) 2008 Beijing: 12 medals (4G, 4S, 4B) 2012 London: 15 medals (4G, 4S,7B) 2016 Rio de Janeiro: 12 medals (3G, 5S, 4B) (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
