AS PART OF celebrations marking Egypt's Olympic medal-winning performance in Athens, President Hosni Mubarak honoured 15 members of the country's Olympic delegation, including players, trainers and federation heads. In a ceremony held at the presidential palace yesterday, Mubarak conferred on the delegation's members sporting awards of various degrees according to their achievements in the Athens Olympics which ended last month. The recipients included gold medal winner, wrestler Karam Gaber; silver medalist Mohamed Ali Reda in boxing; boxing bronze medallists Mohamed El-Baz and Ahmed Ismail; and Tamer Bayoumi, bronze medalist in taekwondo. Also honoured were trainers and administrators at the wrestling, boxing and taekwondo federations. Mubarak noted that Egypt was committed to providing all the necessary care and support for promising sports figures to enable them to garner the best results in future competitions. The president noted that the best players from across the country should be chosen to represent Egypt at international sports events. Also attending the ceremony was Minister of Youth Anas El-Fiqi and the chairman of Egypt's Olympic Committee Mounir Thabet. El-Fiqi described Athens 2004 as "a new phase for reviving Egyptian sports", adding that training and preparations for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing will soon begin. Thabet noted that the achievements of the Egyptian players in Athens had raised the bar for all Egyptian sportsmen and women in future competitions.
