There were winners but no losers at the regional games for disabled athletes, writes Abeer Anwar Special Olympics Egypt shined at the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regional Games in Tunis. The Egyptian table tennis doubles won the gold. Taha Wassim won the individual gold in the 8 to 15 age category, Bosaina Hamdan added another gold in the 16-21 bracket and Yousra Abdel- Latif won a bronze for the over 21 division. In athletics, Fatma Abdel-Wahab took the gold medal in the shot-put while Egypt won the gold in the 4X100m relay. The team consisted of Fatma Abdel-Wahab, Fatma Ali, Nadia Mustafa and Safaa El-Serougi. In the 4X50m relay Egypt added another gold thanks to Heba Salah, Noureddin El-Touni, Hamed El-Gharabawi and Islam Selim. Tunisia took the silver while Libya collected the gold. In swimming, women teammates Noureddin Toumi and Christine Sedhom took the gold in the 25m butterfly and backstroke, Islam Salem the gold in the 50 backstroke, while Hebattallah Attalah garnered another gold in the 50m freestyle. Hamed El-Gharbawi took two gold in the men's 50m freestyle and backstroke while Heba Khafagi collected the silver in the 50m butterfly. Egypt's floor hockey team received the silver medal after losing to Tunisia 9-8 while Libya came third to take the bronze. In futsal or five-a-side football, SO Egypt finished third after losing to Tunisia and Algeria. In basketball for girls, Egypt won the silver medal, Tunisia the gold and Algeria the bronze. The closing ceremony of the Games, which will be held in the United Arab Emirates in 2006, was held under the auspices of Tunisian President Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali. Held once every two years to give a chance to intellectually disabled athletes to express themselves on and off the field, the Games attracted 600 athletes representing 18 countries competing in six sports. "We are very sorry to have missed Special Olympics Palestine for the first time in their history," Ayman Abdel-Wahab, SO MENA region managing director, said. "They participated in the past three Games but they were prevented this time by Israeli troops who refused to allow the athletes out of the West Bank and Gaza." The Games opening and closing ceremonies included a number of dances and shows presented by the SO athletes, including the Lebanese dabka, the Saudi rafa and Egyptian belly dancing. The ceremonies were also attended by Tunisian Youth and Sports Minister Abdullah Al-Rabki who deputised for the president. Ghada Abdel-Khalek, SO MENA communications manager, announced the launching of a Web site for the Games: www.somenagames.com. "We wanted these Games to be different as we are developing our programmes and our region," Abdel-Khalek said. The Games, which were broadcast live on Tunisian TV Channel One, were also viewed by a Japanese delegation representing Special Olympics Japan which was attending the Games to gain more experience before organising the SO Winter Games from 26 February to 6 March in Nagano, Japan. "Although Japan is very modern it is a great achievement for our region to be taken as an example and to have our Games cited as one of the best in the world," Abdel-Wahab said. Athletes were given a chance to express their problems and discuss their needs in the Athletes Leadership Programme (ALPS). Securing a medical check-up for all participating athletes, the Healthy Athlete Programme took place on field were all participants were exposed to Opening Eyes, Healthy Hearing and Special Smiles. "It's the first time we're exposing our athletes to three fields at the same time," Heba Said, SO MENA initiative manager, said. "But such health care research is very important to the athletes to be healthy and for us in planning for our future and offering our intellectually disabled the best we can offer." Also families from all over the MENA region had an opportunity through the First Family Forum to get to know one another and relate their problems and experience. The School and Youth Summit gave an equal chance to school students to discuss ways and means of helping intellectually disabled athletes by developing their capabilities.
