Egyptian bodybuilders captured the 68th edition of the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Men's World Amateur Bodybuilding Championships in Brasília, Brazil. It was the eighth such crown in Egypt's history. Held from 12 to 15 November the tournament attracted over 200 bodybuilders from over 50 nations: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Canada, Croatia, Egypt, Ecuador, Estonia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Iran, India, Libya, Japan, Korea, Lebanon, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Paraguay, Poland, Russia, Romania, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Slovenia, Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, United Kingdom, Ukraine, US, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela and host country Brazil. Egyptian bodybuilders collected a whopping 10 medals in 10 weight categories --five gold, three silver and two bronze. Egypt's Ismail Masoud, Osama Salama and Islam Mohamed captured gold medals in the welterweight 75kg, light-middleweight 80kg and heavyweight 100kg respectively. Attia Shalaan in super-heavyweight over 100kg and Ahmed Al-Sadani in light-heavyweight 90kg rounded out the gold medals. Mohamed Embaby won bronze in lightweight 70kg and Mohamed Zakareya in super-heavyweight over 100kg. Sameh Mohamed won a silver medal in bantamweight 65kg, Sherif Mourad in middleweight 85kg and Ahmed Al-Hayti in welterweigh75kg. Shaalan won ‘The Champion of Champions' title in the super heavyweight over 100kg. In the best team overall standing, Egypt came first while Iran took second and Korea third. The managing director of the Egyptian Bodybuilding Federation (EBF) Sami Bashir told Al-Ahram Weekly, “Egyptian bodybuilding won the world championships seven consecutive years from 2006 to 2012. It was only last year that we finished in second place. It was a big challenge for us to retain the world title. This year is eight times plus the biggest haul of medals in history.” On the sidelines of the championship, EBF President Adel Fahim was re-elected once again as executive assistant of IFBB's vice president and vice president for Africa. The vote was held by the IFBB International Congress. The term is from 2014 to 2018. Egyptian Ambassador to Brazil Hossam Zaki invited the Egyptian delegation to lunch at his residence in honour of the team and its results. “The bodybuilders were in training for eight days in Alexandria,” Bashir said of the preparations. “They were also in training for three days in Brazil before the beginning of the championship. We arrived in Brazil four days before the tournament. All the athletes were put on a diet. It was very exhausting for them to spend a day and half in flight. But thank God, the results were very promising.” What's new in the EBF's calendar? “Our bodybuilders are getting ready for the IFB World Classic Bodybuilding Championship in Spain and the Arnold Classic in the US. IFBB pays much attention to classic and fitness championships which we have started to focus on. We add to our plan.”
