Egypt did what it had not done before at the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) whose third edition recently came to an end in Buenos Aires. The athletes collected 12 medals – three gold, two silver and seven bronze medals – to finish in 22nd place at the medals table out of 92 nations who made it to the podium. Egypt's medal collection in Buenos Aires was the highest in its YOG history, having won six medals in the inaugural event in Singapore 2010 and eight medals in the second edition, Nanjing 2014. The achievement also made Egypt the most successful nation in the Arab, North Africa and Middle East region. Other Arab countries who garnered medals were Morocco (7), Algeria (5), Tunisia (3), Saudi Arabia (3), Qatar (2), UAE (1) and Jordan (1). Egypt's most impressive performance came in the final two days from karate girl Yasmine Nasr who captured the imagination of spectators after beating Japan's Rinka Tahata 2-1 to take the gold medal in the -53kg weight category in the kumite event. On her way to the final Nasr had dispatched China's Catalin Valdes 7-0, Uzbekistan's Dildora Alikulova 2-1 and Iran's Fatemeh Khonakdartarsi 5-0 in the semi-final. The men's football futsal team which enjoyed a fine run throughout the competition, clinched the bronze medal and the last for Egypt in the YOG. The boys had a successful journey, winning a stunning 5-4 victory against the home team Argentina. It was the second time the Pharaohs had met Argentina; they played to a 2-2 draw in the first round, then knocked down Panama 8-3, Iraq 3-2 and Slovakia 2-1 to reach the semi-final when they lost 3-1 to Russia play for the bronze medal against the South Americans again. The Egyptians enjoyed a hero's welcome at home earlier this week. They were received by Minister of Youth and Sports Ashraf Sobhi and top sports officials, families and fans. The medalists are expected to meet President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi who is to honour them, as he did those who won medals in the African Youth Games and the Mediterranean Games in June. Two Egyptian gold medalists, Ahmed Al-Guindi and Salma Ayman, were recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as having had outstanding performances at Buenos Aires 2018, describing the two champions as the “unbeatable pentathletes”. The IOC list of standouts included Japanese gymnast Takeru Kitazono who won five gold medals and one silver; Russian swimmers Kliment Kolesnikov and Andrei Minakov, who won six golds and one silver each; Cuban Jordan Alejandro Diaz Fortun, who lived up to high expectations in the triple jump; South African runner Luke Davids, who triumphed by a generous margin in the 100m; Italian Giacomo Casadei, who dazzled everyone in the equestrian competition; Portuguese women's futsal player Fifo, who scored 21 goals and led her team to the gold medal; Argentine Marco Giordano Gnass and US athlete Hailey van Lith, the stars of the gold-winning men's and women's basketball 3x3 teams; and Chinese diver Lin Shan who won the gold in all three events she competed in. Nasr The IOC believes that many of these names are destined to shine, evolve and become leaders at Tokyo 2020 and future Olympic tournaments, as has happened before. According to the IOC, the 2018 Buenos Aires Games are now in the history books. But, it should not be forgotten. The 12-day event brought sporting, cultural and social achievements, and attracted a total of 1,001,496 people who visited the venues to see the biggest multi-sport celebration in Argentina's history, one in which 32 sports and 36 disciplines featured in the programme. Meanwhile, Africa is all set to host the first-ever YOG on its soil. After 122 years and 51 modern games, the Olympic movement will land in Africa, in 2022 in Dakar, Senegal, for the fourth edition of the YOG. When the IOC decided at its session prior to the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games to send the YOG to Africa, four nations had thrown their hats in the ring. But as the process deepened, the Botswana, Nigeria and Tunisia Olympic committees decided to unanimously back Dakar 2022. “This is a great demonstration of athlete solidarity and a great demonstration of fair play and the Olympic spirit,” IOC President Thomas Bach said of the decision then.
