Interviewed by: Alzahraa Rashad

An outstanding athlete and champion in one of the martial sports, who has achieved a great success in the field of sports, not only at the level of competition and winning many championships, but also at the level of representing Egypt in international sports positions, discussing sports issues, and its role in promoting peace between peoples with world leaders... we’re interviewing Abeer Essawy, our Taekwondo champion to talk about her journey in sports since the beginning till now, and to give us a vision in this field

- In the beginning, we want to get to know you

I would like to introduce myself as Taekwondo Olympian and Artist.

Abeer Essawy, the one who never got beated in any of the African championships, How did you achieve that success?

I have participated in the African Championship four times as an individual, and once as a team, and I have won the gold medal in all my participations. These participations included my participation in the African Games, as well as my participation in the African qualifiers for the Olympics.

Your participation in the Summer Olympic Games, Athens 2004 is the most prominent in your sporting history. Can you please tell us more about this participation?

I qualified for the Olympics from the African qualifiers that were held in Egypt in early 2004, specifically in January, and I won first place at the African level. And my Olympic participation was in August, in Greece, the capital of Athens, my ranking in this tournament was 11th at the age of 17, when I lost to the Champion of Chinese Taipe

Your choice to start practicing Taekwondo, one of the martial sports, coming from your or it was a family decision?

I was a very active child, and I used to practice all the sports at the club, until I saw my cousin’s practicing taekwondo, representing the Egyptian national team, so he was a source of pride for the family. From watching them in training for a long time, I started to memorize some of the moves, and so I started practicing the same sport. My talent in it became apparent, and during the first two years, I used to avoid the confrontation known as "FIGHT" in training because of my fear, until the coach noticed this and told my family. When the whole team participated in the Republican Championship in 1994 and I did not participate with them, I started to have a challenge and a strong desire to practice Fight in taekwondo. In fact, I played my first championship in 1995 and won the silver medal underage of 10 years, and under 23 kg weight class. I was only eight years old, and I really loved confrontations in taekwondo, and how to win over the opposing player without injuring him. This was my father`s will (may he rest in peace), not to hurt anyone if I wanted to continue in taekwondo.

Why did you choose to study a master’s degree in art therapy even though you are an athlete?

I graduated from Faculty of Art Education - Helwan University, where I studied expressive arts, fine arts, and applied arts. I found that the link between sports and arts is that they are both universal languages that do not rely on spoken language, but rather on non-verbal communication. Their goal is the same, which is to achieve physical and psychological health. Expressive arts aim at physical expression with muscles, and creative processing in our brains. I found a field that combines sports and arts, and that there is a similarity between art and sports in terms of rhythm, art, reaction, composition, expression, brain usage, and muscles in expressive stages.

 You participated in The World Olympians Forum in 2019. What is the goal of this conference?

The conference is called the Olympians Conference and is organized by the World Olympians Association. Its goal is to bring together Olympians from all over the world and to develop a strategy for what they can achieve on a personal and community level.  the Second conference was held in Lausanne, Switzerland in 2019, and it is held every four years. The next conference will be held in Turkey in September 2023.

 You were elected to be the 1st Egyptian to hold this position, Executive Board Member at the World Olympian Association, How were you nominated? What project did you apply for this international sports position?

After representing Egyptian Olympians in 2019, I submitted a project to re-activate the Egyptian Olympians Association. Two months later, I won Grant, for Egypt for this project as an Egyptian athlete. Only ten projects worldwide won this Grant, including the one I submitted. This is where my International developmental role in serving Olympians began. And from this my name began to be known internationally, as I help athletes on a voluntary basis to provide sports development for their country. I am proud to represent Egypt, Africa, and all Olympians as a member of the Board of Directors of the World Olympians Organization. We are currently preparing for a conference that will bring together all Olympic athletes from all over the world to present ideas and projects that serve their countries

And what are your next steps?

After that, we managed to hold the African conference for the African Olympians representatives and presidents, which was hosting the African Olympians and helping then with the cooperation of the Egyptian Olympic committee, and Ministry of Youth & Sports. And that was the first African meeting in Egypt and this conference caused a great boom in the projects presented by international Olympians from African countries. With a rate of 40% or more, as a result 22 projects from all over the world won, including 14 projects from Africa. This was an echo of my work as a member of the Executive Office of the International Olympic Athletes, headed by Joel Bouzo

What did you gain from your work as a member of the Players Committee of the Egyptian Olympic Committee?

My work in this committee was focusing on two sides, one side relates to education and the other side relates to the media. In the educational side we managed to hold workshop in Egypt to train the Egyptian players and teach them how to combine between their professional life and being athletics. And this workshop This workshop was affiliated with a program of the International Olympic Committee called ATHELETES365. It is a major program of the International Olympic Committee, and the title of this workshop was “CAREER PLUS”. Its goal is to help players combine their basic and sporting work through their work, for example, as lawyers in sports entities, media professionals, or doctors. The idea of this workshop was primarily based on the difficulty of many athletes in achieving a balance between sports and education. This was one of the main successes it achieved in the Players Committee of the Egyptian Olympic Committee, headed by Captain Aya Madani

What about developing the media aspect within your work in this committee?

My goal was to help media professionals that are working in the sports field in terms of language, and how to formulate sports news in a motivational way. I was also part of the specialized committee to choose the uniforms of the Egyptian delegation participating in the Tokyo Olympics 2020, by introducing the conditions of the tournament, and identifying the players’ needs for clothing for this tournament, and that the design of the Egyptian delegation’s clothing expresses Egyptian culture, and to be made out of excellent quality, and is comfortable for the player during his matches

You were invited to join the international program for preparing and empowering sportive women, what was the goal of this program?

I was officially invited to represent Egyptian women. I submitted a project under name of "Equality between men and women in the field of sports". The goal of this project was to overcome the social problems and challenges facing women. I was able to communicate with Women executives from al all over the world and identify the most important problems facing the athletic women globally. I was also able to represent Egypt as a sports diplomat. I felt the appreciation of the program organizers for the successes of athletes from all countries around the world and their selection as sports ambassadors. After representing Egypt in 2019, I was invited to represent it again in 2022. During this program, we were able to meet Jill Biden, USA 1st lady, and We discussed the role of sports in achieving world peace, as sports champion is the role models for his fellow citizens.

During your participation in the “First Egyptian Athletes Forum,” you discussed the importance of mental health for athletes and the concept of any person’s right to practice sports. Why did you focus on this concept specifically?

This important sports forum was held at the American University, My speech at this conference came from my main interest sports work, which is the priority of health and community participation. Sports, for me, reinforce the concept of promoting physical activity, as they create a healthy and productive citizen. Sports is the first activity that a child practices through playing traditional children`s games such as hide-and-seek and tag, and it is the first activity that a child joins in the community, which enhances the spirit of belonging and integration.

I also spoke about a very important health study which was a collective effort between the World Olympians Association medical committee, team from global health professionals. 1st from its kind to be made exclusively on Olympians, Athletes who competed in any previous Olympic summer or winter games, The ultimate Health Study was efforts of more than 3000 Olympians and future for Olympians included general health, the relationship between high-level sports competitions on physical and mental health in the long term, and the injuries that Olympians are exposed to due to the intense competition and the great pressure to maintain their level for a long time

 And how do you see the achievements of the Egyptian Taekwondo, globally and Olympically?

Egyptian athletes succeeded in achieving two Olympic medals in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics through the player Seif Essa and the player Hadiya Malak. We also achieved two bronze medals in world championships, which is a remarkable achievement for Egyptian Taekwondo and Egyptian sports.

What about the athletic women position in Egypt and the development of the athletic Egyptian female participation in various games?

We have made great strides in women`s sports in Egypt, but we can achieve more, especially since we are now achieving world championships every day. Currently, we have sports such as Taekwondo, fencing, and modern pentathlon that are raising the Egyptian flag around the world, and they are achieving outstanding achievements on both the international and global levels. Egypt is one of the countries that is distinguished in tourism, whether it is archaeological or sports tourism; because of the excellent climate that suits all the sports, excepts for the ice sports and by moving towards more sports investment, it could be one of the first sources of national income for Egypt

 How do you evaluate the status of Para Taekwondo after the Egyptian achievement of international & Olympic medals in it ?

The Para Taekwondo in general is one of the most important sports that promotes that idea of inclusion, and that sports is for all people. And of the greatest sports is ParaTaekowndo and I’s so proud that we achieved Paralympic medal in taekwondo through the player Mohamed El-Zayat, and I hope that Egyptian female athletes will also achieve a Paralympic medal in this sport in Paris session 2024

What are your ambitions?

My ambition is to ensure that every individual, regardless of their background or circumstances, enjoys good health, both physically and mentally. I am committed to expanding opportunities for everyone to actively practice regular physical activity. Through sports and various initiatives, I aim to contribute to the well-being and inclusion of people not just in my community but on a broader scale which in my opinion is achieving global peace and health through sports.