FOR the first time in history, an Egyptian has reached the highest podium of an international event in gymnastics. Against all odds, Ali Zahran won the gold medal at the Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup 2016 recently held in Szombathely, Hungary. Zahran's gold medal came in the rings discipline where he was able to display a remarkable performance to surprise his competitors when he made it to the finals of the event. Zahran then went on to outclass his nearest opponents Yunlog Zhang from China and Vietnam's Nam Dang who came in second and third respectively. The Egyptian scored 15,233 points while Zhang scored 15,200 and Dang 15,033 points. Though the World Challenge Cup is a C category in world events, sports officials say Zahran's gold medal is still an achievement since it is one of the major events registered on the agenda of the International Gymnastics Federation. The feat could be an incentive for Egyptian gymnastics to reach higher international levels.
