For the first time in Egyptian track and field, six athletes qualified for one Olympics, in this case the 2012 London Games, reports Ghada Abdel-Kader Egyptian athletes previously qualified for the Olympics using the quota system, male and female for each country. In Athens 2004, Omar El-Ghazali and Marwa Hussein qualified with the quota but got no medals. Yasser Farag, Mohsen Anani, El-Ghazali and Amr Seoud went to Beijing 2008 but received nothing as well. But now, suddenly, half a dozen athletes will be representing the flag in London 2012. "This is the first time we have six athletes going to an Olympics," president of the Egyptian Athletics Federation (EAF), Seif-Allah Shahin said. "Now, we are waiting for more athletes to qualify such as Ihab El-Sayed in the javelin, Hamada Mohamed in 800 and 1,500 metres. The more athletes we have the more chances we have to get medals. We are getting closer and we still have one year to go." Sprinter Seoud qualified after the first round heat in a time of 20.44 seconds in the men's 200 metres at the 13th IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federation) World Athletics Championships in Daegu, South Korea held from 24 August to 4 September. Seoud did not enter the final because he came down with the flu. Seoud qualified in the final of the men's100 metres at the 10th All-Africa Games in 2011 in Maputo, Mozambique held from 3-18 September. Seoud finished first in 10.20 seconds. On the EAF's preparations for the athletes going to London 2012, Shahin told Al-Ahram Weekly, "The discus and hammer throwers are continuing their training with the technical director of the team Nagi Assad at Cairo Stadium. El-Ghazali trained with Estonian Coach Aleksander Tammert in Estonia. Mohamed Deif-Allah trained with coach Zaki Darwish in Alexandria Sporting Club. Seoud is in America with his coach Karim Abdel-Wahab. He will stay there for six weeks then return to participate in the Pan-Arab Games in Qatar." Yasser Farag qualified twice in the 2011 All- Africa Games. He won two gold medals in the men's shot put, with a throw of 19.73 metres and in the discus with 63.20 metres. Farag said, "Training never stops. All discus and hammer throwers are in constant training camps in Cairo. We train twice a day from 10am to 1pm and from 4 to 7pm. Friday and Sunday are off. We are preparing ourselves for the 2011 Pan Arab Games" in Doha, Qatar from 9-23 December." Discus thrower El-Ghazali qualified with a throw of 64.79 metres at Egypt's national championship held in Cairo. In Estonia, El-Ghazali had been training with the legendary Estonian discus thrower Tammert and well-known Estonian physiotherapist Siim Altosaar. In the 21st European Junior Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, in July El-Ghazali injured himself while warming up. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) detected inflammation in the pelvic bone which needed immediate treatment. The injury forced El-Ghazali to miss two important championships -- the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Daegu and the Pan-Arab Games in Qatar. El-Ghazali told Al-Ahram Weekly, "I returned to Egypt after the injury. I am 90% OK but I am undergoing physical therapy for four weeks with my physiotherapist Ahmed Maged." "I was eliminated from the National Project for Sports Excellence (NSE ) but not officially. The Ministry of Sports was paying only part of the salary of the foreign coach. Physiotherapist Altosaar took ê3,000 monthly. The ministry only pays ê1,000 and I pay the rest. Now, I have no coach. I will stay in Egypt and will continue my training alone with the general coach in El-Gezira Sporting Club Emad Fayez. He's been my coach since I was 14." Deif-Allah qualified with a long jump of 8.19 metres at Egypt's Shield Cup for seniors held in Egypt from 5-7 May. Deif-Allah started in track in 2006. "At the beginning it was a hobby but after the Olympics in Athens I dreamt of standing on the winners' podium one day. This is my first time to qualify for an Olympics. I hope to win a medal for Egypt." Deif-Allah's result wasn't good in Korea. He went to a training camp only 15 days before the championship with coach Nelio Moura in Brazil. He described it as being "a very short time to learn a lot of things." Noura was the coach of Panama's long jumper Irving Saladino who won gold in Beijing 2008. Deif-Allah added, "Training camps abroad are very important for any athlete. They have to be held a long time before the Olympics. I need a training camp abroad with Noura for two or three months before the Olympics." Hammer thrower Hisham El-Gamal qualified in the All-Africa Games with a gold medal throw of 74.76 metres. "The main problem is I don't have a sports manager or media sponsor in order to enter training camps abroad. I think it's important to gain experience," added El-Gamal. Hammer thrower Hassan Mahmoud qualified in the third refresher at the Athletics Championship held in Cairo in March. Hassan qualified with a throw of 74 metres. "I stayed in France from May to July. I had a training camp in France for a month and half with my coach Walter Ciofani. Then, I started playing in Euro meets." Ciofani was France's world champion in the hammer throw in the 1980s. "He doesn't take any money for me. I joined his team and started training. He provided me with the equipment, transportation and goes to events with me." "Nothing is predictable," Shahin said on Egypt's chances of medals in London. "There are always surprises."
