At the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Egyptian athletes claimed two gold, one silver and seven bronze medals. The 10 medals were won in fencing, taekwondo, equestrian, modern pentathlon, swimming, wrestling, weightlifting and athletics. As of writing, Russia led the table with 48 medals, followed by China and Japan with 32 each. Egypt had opened its campaign at the third edition of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG), which ends Thursday 18 October, with a bronze medal in fencing when Mazen Al-Arabi became the first Egyptian in the games to make it to the podium. He was followed by a taekwondo bronze in the -73kg by Eyad Adel Mahmoud. More bronze medals followed. Ahmed Nasser Al-Naggar took third in equestrian. However, Al-Naggar had to share the bronze with three other athletes as he participated in the international jumping team competition representing Africa. Bronze baggers included swimmer Sameh Abdel-Rahman in the 50 metre freestyle swimming, Abdallah Galal in the 77kg weightlifting, Ahmed Mohamed in the -55kg freestyle wrestling and Rawan Ayman Ibrahim in the women's 3kg hammer throw with a heave of 69.67 metres. The athletics Olympic medal was the first in a YOG ever won by Egypt. Ayman The only silver medal won so far came from Naima Said in the 58kg women's weightlifting. A week into the competition, Salma Ayman came from behind to claim the women's individual gold medal in the modern pentathlon, making it the first gold for Egypt in Buenos Aires. The following day, the modern pentathlon's world champion, Ahmed Al-Guindi of Egypt, added the men's individual gold medal, making the country the only unbeaten nation in the sport. Ayman's medal was the most impressive as the Egyptian moved into a strong position after finishing third in swimming and sixth in fencing, enabling her to start the laser run 14sec behind the leader, Under 19 world champion Alice Rinaudo of Italy. When Rinaudo lost momentum during the second visit to the range, Ayman pounced. The 18-year-old then kept her composure with two terrific shots and strong running to leave the pack with no chance of catching her. Bronze medallist Michelle Gulyas of Hungary also overtook Rinaudo and kept possession of second place until the final lap when she was passed by Emma Riff of France who thrilled the crowd by claiming silver. Al-Guindi According to the International Modern Pentathlon Federation Website, Ayman now joins Leydi Moya of Cuba and Zhong Xiuting of China in an exclusive club of Youth Olympic Games women's champions, and that her success is another milestone in the incredible journey of Egypt to the top tiers of world pentathlon, especially at under-age levels. Ayman has been progressing steadily since winning the mixed relay gold at the 2015 modern pentathlon Under 19 World Championships, an achievement she repeated this year before winning a breakthrough senior silver medal in the mixed relay at the Pentathlon World Cup in Sofia. A strong swimmer whose pentathlon idol is the Olympic silver medallist Elodie Clouvel of France, Ayman told reporters following her victory, “I am so happy and so thankful to my coaches and my family. My mother and father support me so much and so do my coaches.” Only 24 hours after his countrywoman Ayman won the women's individual crown, Al-Guindi continued his extraordinary run of success in 2018 and lived up to his billing as the favourite to win the men's individual title. The 18-year-old Al-Guindi has been unstoppable all season, becoming world champion at both the modern pentathlon Junior and Under 19 Tetrathlon World Championships. He once again mastered the Tetrathlon format in Buenos Aires, finishing second in swimming and first in fencing before defending his lead with ease in the laser run. “Of course I'm feeling great, feeling proud to be the Youth Olympic champion. It's been my dream for four years. Last year was very hard, many competitions, many ups and downs but now I'm feeling great. Also one month ago I had an injury and I'm so pleased it wasn't an obstacle in the competition. The fencing went well and I finished second in swimming,” Al-Guindi told UIPM.org, as he also paid tribute to those who helped him achieve his Youth Olympic dream. Ayman “My mother is here and she came to support and motivate me and I would like to thank her very much,” said the new champion. “My heroes in pentathlon are Aya Medani from Egypt, also Alexander Lesun from Russia. I hope I can compete with him in Tokyo in 2020.” “As president of the Egyptian Modern Pentathlon Federation, I can say that this remarkable achievement and triumphs of both Al-Guindi and Ayman maintains Egypt's strong winning streak of success of the development system created by the federation. They have both made us and the whole nation proud,” said Sherif Al-Erian, president of the Egyptian Modern Pentathlon Federation (EMPF) and secretary general of the National Olympic Committee. “We have been working for years to reach this level and now we have won the fruits of our hard work and dedication. Everyone in the establishment — athletes, coaches, administrators, doctors — each member of the EMPF has his special fingerprint in this success. And I don't want to forget all our sponsors, especially the National Bank of Egypt who we really consider our partners of success. “And as secretary general of the Egypt NOC, I am also glad that in the third edition, we have seen an increase in the medals won. This is the highest. We won six medals in Singapore 2010, six in Nanjng 2014 and now 10 in Buenos Aires and we hope we can add more in the next two days,” Al-Erian told Al-Ahram Weekly. Buenos Aires 2018 is the first Summer Youth Olympic Games to be held outside of Asia (also the first in the Southern and Western Hemispheres), and the first Youth Games for either summer or winter to be held outside Eurasia. The next host city will be the Senegalese capital Dakar.
