Written by: Al-Zahraa Rashad

Farida Osman: The Butterfly of Swimming

Egyptian swimmer Farida Osman is one of the country’s most prominent athletes, qualifying for the London 2012, Rio 2016, and Tokyo 2020 Olympics. She has won numerous Arab and African titles and a bronze medal at the World Swimming Championships.

Egyptian swimming champion Marwan El-Kamash is also noteworthy, having competed in the Paris 2024 Olympics in the 1500m freestyle after placing ninth at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. He qualified for Paris in both the 800m and 1500m freestyle, winning silver in the 800m at the Fort Lauderdale International Meet with a new personal record. He also won gold in the 800m at the Swimming World Cup (25m) in Toronto.

Born in 1993, El-Kamash studied economics and political science in the United States, where he has lived for years to study and train. He began swimming at six, supported by his family, and counts his qualification for Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 among his greatest achievements, alongside ranking among the world’s top 20 swimmers, winning Mediterranean Games bronze, and setting records in the U.S. Charlotte World Championships.

Feryal Ashraf: The Golden Girl

Feryal Ashraf Mohamed Abdel Aziz, born February 16, 1999, is an Egyptian karateka and the first Egyptian woman to win an Olympic gold medal. She won gold in the women’s +61 kg kumite at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Born in Cairo’s Matariya district, she began karate at age eight at Matariya Sports Club, later joining the Andalus Youth Center in Marg. She also loves drawing and reading and studied pharmacy at the British University in Cairo on a sports excellence scholarship.

Her achievements include:
- 2017: Bronze, Karate World League (68 kg), Morocco
- 2018: Silver, Karate World League, China; Bronze, African Championship, Rwanda
- 2019: Silver, African Games, Morocco; Gold, Junior World Championship, Chile; Gold, Dubai Karate Premier League
- 2020: Gold, African Championship; Silver, Karate World League, France; Silver, Karate Premier League, Austria
- 2021: Silver, Karate Premier League, Turkey; Qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics at the Global Qualifiers in Paris

At Tokyo 2020, she defeated world No.1 Iryna Zaretska of Azerbaijan 2-0 in the final, winning Egypt’s eighth Olympic gold and second since wrestler Karam Gaber in 2004. She became the first Egyptian woman and first Arab African to win Olympic gold in karate.

Her victory was celebrated by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who called to congratulate her and announced naming major Cairo roads after her and other Tokyo medalists, as well as gifting her and her parents a pilgrimage trip. The British University named its pharmacy class after her and granted her full postgraduate scholarships.

She received .

Ziad El-Sisi: Major Fencing Achievements

Ziad El-Sisi is one of Egypt’s top fencers, finishing fourth at the Paris 2024 Olympics. He also won gold at the Korea Grand Prix in May 2024, gold at the 2022 Mediterranean Games in Algeria, and bronze at the World Cup in Algeria—the first Egyptian saber World Cup medal.

He won the 2022–23 African Championship in men’s individual saber in Egypt and a bronze at the World Championships, earning third in Olympic ranking and fourth globally. He also placed fourth in the men’s individual saber at Paris 2024.

With the Egyptian team, he made history with a fifth-place finish in men’s team saber at Tokyo 2020.

Mostafa Amr: Passion for Athletics

Mostafa Amr is one of Egypt’s top track and field athletes, reaching the shot put final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with a qualifying throw of 21.23 meters and finishing eighth—the best Egyptian athletics result since 2016.

Born December 16, 1995, he began his career in 2010 and has competed in four World Cups (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019). He won silver at the Swedish Grand Prix, gold at the Arab Championship (2015, 2019), and bronze at the African Games. He also claimed silver at the World Challenge Silver Meet in the Czech Republic.

Ramadan Darwish: A Glorious Judo Career

Judoka Ramadan Darwish has won multiple international titles, most recently gold at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Starting judo early with family support, he has won the African Championship five times, finished second three times, third at the World Championships once, and fifth twice, along with gold at the Mediterranean Games and several Grand Slam and Grand Prix titles.

Abdel Rahman Arabi: Boxing Champion

Abdel Rahman Arabi is one of Egypt’s top boxers. He competed at the Paris Olympics after winning gold at the African Championship in Senegal (80 kg). His achievements include gold at the 2019 African Games in Morocco, gold at the 2020 African Championship in Senegal, bronze at the 2022 African Championship in Mozambique, and gold at the 2018 Mediterranean Games. He also qualified for the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Abdel Latif Moneim: Wrestling Star

Abdel Latif Moneim, born in Dakahlia’s Dekernes district, plays for Tala’ea El-Geish Club and began wrestling at eight with encouragement from his father and uncle.

He has won three World Championship medals, including one at the U-23 World Championships, another at the 2019 Military World Games in China, and a bronze at the 2023 Senior World Championships in Serbia.

His other titles include gold in the 130 kg category at the Ibrahim Moustafa Greco-Roman Championship (a world ranking event) in February, silver at the 2021 Rome International, and gold at the 2020 Series Ranking Championship. He also won silver at the 2022 Mediterranean Games in Algeria.

His 2023 World Championship bronze was Egypt’s first world wrestling medal since Mohamed Abdelfattah Bogy’s 2006 gold.

Hadia Hosny: From Court Passion to Leading Badminton

Hadia Hosny is a distinguished athlete, the first African and Arab woman to compete in Olympic badminton (Beijing 2008, London 2012, Tokyo 2020). She comes from a highly athletic family—her maternal grandfather is El-Sayed Nosseir, Egypt’s first Olympic gold medalist (1928), and her sister Nadine Hosny is a rhythmic gymnastics champion.

Born in 1988, she played equestrian, gymnastics, and squash before discovering badminton at 12.

She has competed in about 50 international badminton matches (singles, doubles, mixed doubles), with Africa’s only Olympic badminton win coming through her.

Her achievements include:
- 2015: Bronze in mixed doubles at the International Challenge (first for Egypt), bronze in women’s doubles at the Mauritius International, gold in mixed doubles at the Botswana International
- 2016: Five medals for Egypt at the Botswana International, including gold in women’s doubles with Ahmed Salah and bronze in singles
- 2019: Gold in women’s doubles at the African Games with partner Doha Hany

She founded an academy in her name to train young players with the goal of creating not just Olympians but contenders.

Academically, Hadia holds a Bachelor’s in Pharmacy from Ain Shams University, a Master’s in Biological Sciences from the University of Bath (UK), and a PhD in Pharmacy (Toxicology & Drugs) from Cairo University (2022). She is now a lecturer at the British University in Egypt.

She played in the English League, was chosen as an ambassador for the International Federation at the Peace Cup in Dubai, and played professionally in France. She was also selected as the women’s representative for Africa in the Federation’s General Assembly in India.

In 2020, she successfully ran for the Egyptian Parliament, representing East Delta (Sharqia) and became one of Egypt’s leading female MPs.

Hadia also won the presidency of the Egyptian Badminton Federation for the 2024–2028 term, becoming the first woman to hold the position in the federation’s history and the only female president among 29 Olympic federations during the current term.