An over-40 Egyptian has won three gold medals in the African Athletics Masters Championship, reports Ghada Abdel-Kader At 43, Mohamed Megahed is still hard at work. An athlete can run sprints till the age of 35, says Megahed, who would be over the hill by now. That he is not can be put down to his disciplines -- long jump and triple jump -- and determination. Megahed has been into athletics since he was young but did not achieve anything significant at the international level. "All my training was wrong because my potential remained the same. Since 1995, I stopped practicing." He went to Saudi Arabia where he worked as a sales representative in a pharmaceutical company for two years. He returned to the sport in 2005. He then experienced what he termed "a sea change" in his standard. In the World Masters Championship in France in March 2008 he leapt 5m, 76 cm in the long jump, while in the triple jump registered 12m, 44 cm. The jumps put him 10th in the world for his age category. In last year's African Athletics Masters Championship in Mauritius, he won three gold medals in the two disciplines. In the long jump, he notched 6m, 37 cm and in triple 13m, 88 cm. Those figures boosted his world ranking to fourth. "Megahed had great expectations for the masters," vice-president of the Egyptian Athletic Federation (EAF) Seifallah Shahine said. "He didn't win any medal in the World Masters Championship in France but he has entered the finals which is a great achievement." Despite his achievements, Megahed has harsh words for the masters in Egypt, claiming it is not supervised properly. "The proof is that throughout Egypt's history we have not had an Olympic champion in the long jump or triple jump. "The federation has no budget for the masters. Not for the first time, the athletes travel at their own expense. They even had to establish the rules and regulations of the game from the internet." The federation encourages them but not financially," added Shahine. "It is well known that athletics is an expensive sport which costs millions of pounds," Megahed said. "I noticed that although Cuba is considered one of the poorest countries in the world it has a huge number of the best players in the sport." "President of the National Sports Council Hassan Sakr has been very understanding. He allotted LE12,000 for my travel expenses to Mauritius. Shahine also finished all administrative matters." Megahed said he had been in contact with the Cuban federation through the internet. "They gave me all the broad lines and necessary information for my training." Megahed trains in Ahli club, focussing on the technical aspect. "I practice six days a week. In the morning I train for one hour; in the afternoon, two hours." Megahed is currently preparing for the World Masters Games from 10-18 October 2009, the first Olympic Masters Games in Sydney. The World Masters Games are the world's largest multi-sport event, attracting up to three times more competitors than the Olympic Games. "I hope to win a gold medal for Egypt," Megahed said. This year the federation will hold a national championship in preparation for the masters. In the meantime, a specialised German institute is conducting a comprehensive study on Megahed to try to find out why and how he is so good at his age. They have taken blood samples "and will inform me of the results."
