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Sara Ahmed (weightlifter)

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Sara Ahmed
Personal information
Full nameSara Samir Elsayed Mohamed Ahmed
Born (1998-01-01) 1 January 1998 (age 26)
Al-Huaniya, Ismailia Governorate, Egypt
Height155 cm (5 ft 1 in)[1]
Weight71.00 kg (157 lb)
Sport
CountryEgypt
SportWeightlifting
Event–71 kg
Coached byKhaled Korani[2]
Medal record
Representing  Egypt
Women's weightlifting
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2024 Paris 81 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Rio de Janeiro 69 kg
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2022 Bogotá –76 kg
Gold medal – first place 2023 Riyadh –76 kg
Silver medal – second place 2018 Ashgabat –71 kg
Silver medal – second place 2024 Manama –81 kg
Youth Olympics
Gold medal – first place 2014 Nanjing 63 kg
African Games
Gold medal – first place 2015 Brazzaville 69 kg
Gold medal – first place 2023 Accra 81 kg
African Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Cairo 76 kg
Gold medal – first place 2022 Cairo 81 kg
Gold medal – first place 2023 Tunis 81 kg
Gold medal – first place 2024 Ismailia 81 kg
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2015 Wrocław 69 kg
Gold medal – first place 2018 Tashkent 69 kg
World Youth Championships in Athletics
Gold medal – first place 2015 Lima 63 kg
Gold medal – first place 2013 Tashkent 63 kg
Junior African Championships
Gold medal – first place 2012 Tunis 63 kg
Youth African Championships
Gold medal – first place 2012 Tunis 63 kg

Sara Samir Elsayed Mohamed Ahmed (Arabic: سارة سمير السيد محمد أحمد; born 1 January 1998) is an Egyptian weightlifter who won a bronze medal in the women's 69 kg event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and the silver medal in the women's 81kg event at the 2024 Summer Olympics. She won the gold medal in the women's 76 kg event at the 2022 World Weightlifting Championships.

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

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Ahmed was born in the village of Al-Huaniya in Egypt's Ismailia Governorate. Her father (who died in 2015)[3] 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.[4]

Career

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Ahmed's international career began at the 2012 Junior African Championships in Tunis, 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. Her first senior-level competition was the 2013 Mediterranean Games, where she won the clean & jerk portion and was third in the snatch, leaving her second overall behind Turkey's Sibel Şimşek (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. 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 and Youth and Junior World Championships; at the latter she was named the Best Female Lifter.[2] She placed fourth at the 2015 World Championships in Houston and took home gold at that year's Arab Championships held in Sharm el-Sheikh.[5]

Ahmed represented Egypt at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the women's 69 kg event, skipping her high school exams in order to compete.[3] To prepare for the Games, she attended training camps in Uzbekistan, the United Arab Emirates, and Brazil.[6] In Rio she won a bronze medal, lifting a combined weight of 255 kg.[7] She thus became the first Arab woman to win an Olympic weightlifting medal and the first Egyptian woman to win an Olympic medal,[8] although Abeer Abdelrahman retroactively received a silver medal from the women's 75 kg weightlifting event at the 2012 Summer Olympics, as all three medallists in that event tested positive for banned substances and she was upgraded from fifth to third after the Games.[7] 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.[9][10][11] Later in the day, Mohamed Ihab joined her in this distinction by taking bronze in the men's 77 kg.[12]

Upon her return, she was honoured in a ceremony held by Ismailia governor Yassin Taher, received congratulatory messages from Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi,[6] and was given 500,000 Egyptian pounds.[13] Soon after receiving the medal, she declared her intention to train for gold at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[3] 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.[6]

Ahmed won gold in both portions of the 69 kg division at the 2018 Mediterranean Games.[14] The following month, at the 2018 Junior World Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, she won all three categories of the 69 kg tournament.[15] 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.[16] As of 2016 she was engaged to another Egyptian Olympic weightlifter, Ragab Abdelhay.[13]

Ahmed won the gold medal in the women's 76 kg event at the 2023 World Weightlifting Championships held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.[17]

Ahmed was the official flag bearer of her country at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, along with athlete Ahmed El-Gendy.[18] In August 2024, she competed in the women's 81 kg event.[19] She finished second with a total of 268 kg and won a silver medal.[19]

Major results

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Year Venue Weight Snatch (kg) Clean & Jerk (kg) Total Rank
1 2 3 Rank 1 2 3 Rank
Olympic Games
2016 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 69 kg 107 110 112 — 135 140 143 — 255 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
2024 Paris, France 81 kg 113 117 119 — 146 151 155 — 268 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
World Championships
2014 Almaty, Kazakhstan 63 kg 100 104 104 13 120 125 129 12 229 12
2015 Houston, United States 69 kg 105 110 112 6 135 138 138 5 245 5
2017 Anaheim, United States 69 kg 102 102 104 — 126 132 136 1st place, gold medalist(s) — —
2018 Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 71 kg 105 110 111 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 136 141 — 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 252 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
2022 Bogotá, Colombia 76 kg 109 113 116 1st place, gold medalist(s) 138 143 148 1st place, gold medalist(s) 261 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2023 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 76 kg 108 — — 1st place, gold medalist(s) 138 — — 1st place, gold medalist(s) 246 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2024 Manama, Bahrain 81 kg 113 117 117 4 145 149 153 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 262 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
African Games
2015 Brazzaville, Congo 69 kg 95 102 105 1st place, gold medalist(s) 126 132 136 1st place, gold medalist(s) 234 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2019 Rabat, Morocco 76 kg 105 111 115 — 133 141 — — DSQ —
2024 Accra, Ghana 81 kg 100 — — 1st place, gold medalist(s) 131 140 — 1st place, gold medalist(s) 240 1st place, gold medalist(s)
African Championships
2019 Cairo, Egypt 76 kg 105 109 112 1st place, gold medalist(s) 135 141 145 1st place, gold medalist(s) 257 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2022 Cairo, Egypt 81 kg 110 116 — 1st place, gold medalist(s) 140 145 — 1st place, gold medalist(s) 261 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2023 Tunis, Tunisia 81 kg 110 114 117 1st place, gold medalist(s) 140 146 151 1st place, gold medalist(s) 268 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2024 Ismailia, Egypt 81 kg 105 110 113 1st place, gold medalist(s) 131 140 — 1st place, gold medalist(s) 253 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Mediterranean Games
2013 Mersin, Turkey 63 kg 92 98 100 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 112 120 124 1st place, gold medalist(s) 216 —
2018 Tarragona, Spain 69 kg 100 105 107 1st place, gold medalist(s) 127 135 — 1st place, gold medalist(s) 240 —
World Junior Championships
2015 Wrocław, Poland 69 kg 102 105 106 1st place, gold medalist(s) 125 128 130 1st place, gold medalist(s) 232 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2018 Tashkent, Uzbekistan 69 kg 100 105 107 1st place, gold medalist(s) 125 133 137 1st place, gold medalist(s) 238 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Youth Olympic Games
2014 Nanjing, China 63 kg 97 103 103 — 118 125 129 — 228 1st place, gold medalist(s)
World Youth Championships
2013 Tashkent, Uzbekistan 63 kg 92 97 101 1st place, gold medalist(s) 113 120 124 1st place, gold medalist(s) 221 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2015 Lima, Peru 69 kg 100 103 108 1st place, gold medalist(s) 125 130 133 1st place, gold medalist(s) 236 1st place, gold medalist(s)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Sara Ahmed". Rio2016.com. Rio 2016 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 11 December 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Sara Ahmed". nbcolympics.com. NBC Sports. Archived from the original on 25 October 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  3. ^ a b c Badr, Doaa (18 August 2016). "Interview: Egypt's teenage weightlifter Sara Ahmed has further ambitions after winning bronze in Rio". Al-Ahram. Archived from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  4. ^ عبدالرشيد, أحمد (15 September 2014). "البوابة نيوز : أسرة سارة سمير بطلة العالم في رفع الأثقال: مقابلة الرئيس دفعة معنوية لتحقيق المزيد من الإنجازات (طباعة)" (in Arabic). albawabhnews.com. Archived from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  5. ^ "AHMED Sara Samir Elsayed Mohamed". International Weightlifting Federation. Archived from the original on 18 June 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  6. ^ a b c Fouly, Mahmooud (23 August 2016). "Interview: Egypt's girl eyes gold after getting bronze in Rio Olympics". Xinhua News Agency. Archived from the original on 23 August 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  7. ^ a b "Weightlifting – Ahmed earns landmark podium for Egypt". Channel NewsAsia. 10 August 2016. Archived from the original on 10 August 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  8. ^ Sims, Alexandra (12 August 2016). "Rio 2016: Egypt's Sara Ahmed becomes first Arab woman to win Olympic weightlifting medal". The Independent. Archived from the original on 14 June 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  9. ^ Maher, Hatem (10 August 2016). "Teenager weightlifter Sara Samir wins Egypt's first Rio medal". Al-Ahram. Archived from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  10. ^ "ABIR ABDELRAHMAN Khalil Mahmoud Khalil". International Weightlifting Federation. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  11. ^ "ABDELAZIM Tarek Yehia Fouad". International Weightlifting Federation. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  12. ^ "Mohamed Mahmoud". Rio 2016 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. 10 August 2016. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  13. ^ a b "Weightlifting champ Sara Ahmed: bronze is just the beginning". Egypt Independent. 14 August 2016. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  14. ^ "Tarragona 2018 – Results Book" (PDF). International Weightlifting Federation. June 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 May 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  15. ^ "2018 IWF Junior World Championships – 06-14 July 2018, Tashkent, Uzbekistan – Results Book" (PDF). International Weightlifting Federation. July 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  16. ^ "2018 IWF World Championships". International Weightlifting Federation. 10 November 2018. Archived from the original on 3 November 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  17. ^ "2023 World Weightlifting Championships Results Book" (PDF). International Weightlifting Federation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 September 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  18. ^ "Paris 2024 Olympics: The flagbearers at Friday's Opening Ceremony, from Coco Gauff to NBA stars". Olympics.com. 25 July 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  19. ^ a b "Weightlifting Results Book" (PDF). 2024 Summer Olympics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2024. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
[edit]
Olympic Games
Preceded by Flagbearer for  Egypt
(with Ahmed El-Gendy)
París 2024 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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