By Inas Mazhar Since the 2004 Athens Olympics, seven months ago, our five Egyptian medalists have been seen everywhere except where it counts: in training. Since the Olympics the champions have indeed been everywhere, in celebration receptions, commercials and social events, their faces plastered on huge public billboards. Which is fine if they had continued to produce, and that's not the case. Wrestler Karam Gaber, Egypt's first gold medal winner in an Olympics for more than 50 years, has not won a single game since Athens. The wrestling federation have constantly complained about the player's attitude. Gaber, in turn, recently accused the federation of destroying his image and hindering his pro wrestling career. However, the federation says that it is the player who has neglected his training while travelling abroad and playing in exhibition tournaments solely for money. They claim that Gaber has made a fool of himself by appearing it gimmicky exhibits like the one in which he was defeated by a Japanese in martial arts in the US. Then there is taekwondu bronze medalist Tamer Salah who failed to get past the quarter-finals of the world taekwondu championship recently held in Spain. The latest dispute between the Egyptian Boxing Federation and the Olympic boxers -- Mohamed Ali Reda and Ahmed Ismail -- is worrisome. Egypt is preparing for the Mediterranean Games in Spain in June, but news has come that none of the boxers will be taking part in the 15-day event. Bronze medalist Mohamed El- Baz, 29, retired, managing a new boxing centre at the Arab Contractors. But as for silver medalist Ali Reda and bronze winner Ismail, they are apparently not fit enough. They have not been training for several months. The result that each has gained at least 30kg. And their participation in future international events remains unclear. The boxers claim their achievement in Athens was theirs alone, that it was their talent and training that put Egypt back in the Olympics medal table. Nobody, they add, supported them save their coach Abdel-Aziz Ghoneim. But the Egyptian Boxing Federation president Ismail Hamed has a different perspective, claiming their feat was made possible only by a long-term plan he drew up and ordered the boxers follow. "Without it, they wouldn't have won any medals," Hamed, who is also vice president of the international federation, said. "Why have they become so arrogant? Their colleagues in Athens could have done the same but they had a tough draw. The three winners had a lucky draw which put them on the medals podium." Have the fame and prize money gone to the heads of our Olympians? It appears possible. Before the Games, they were unknowns. Now, they are relatively rich and famous, treated as superstars and celebrities everywhere, in Egypt and abroad. The problem is that they have forgotten what in the first place got them the money and what put them at the centre of attraction. The current dispute between the boxers and the Egyptian federation is going nowhere. Both sides could be telling the truth. All we know for sure is that the same people who gave us five Olympic medals are currently giving us almost as many headaches.
