Egypt's only medal in the Beijing Olympics came from Hisham Mesbah in judo. Ghada Abdel-Kader interviewed our redeemer Judoka Hisham Mesbah won the only medal Egypt collected in the Beijing Olympics, a bronze in the 90kg weight category. Mesbah beat Frenchman Yves-Matthieu Dafreville by a full point or ippon for third place. On his moment on the podium Mesbah told Al-Ahram Weekly, "I was so happy. I was so glad that the people were happy, more than winning a medal. It means a lot to me." Mesbah said he and his coach had expected to win a medal a year before the Olympics. "I had a lot of training and international championships. Our standing on the international level was good." Mesbah's bronze medal was Egypt's second Olympic judo medal in 24 years. The first was Mohamed Rashwan's silver medal in Los Angeles in 1984. Mesbah, 26, thanked the president of the National Sports Council Hassan Sakr for his achievement. "I feel that he is my brother or godfather of sorts. He always stands beside me. In Beijing, he was always there watching the matches." The National Sports Council originally promised to award LE500, 000 to medal winners, which was increased to LE750, 000. Mesbah said he would use the money to perform the Umrah, or minor pilgrimmage, "then prepare my flat to get married. Then, I'm going on the pilgrimage." Concerning Mesbah's teammates, Amin El-Hadi, 66kg, came in 7th place and Islam El-Shahabi finished 9th in the +100kg category. Samah Ramadan also came in 7th place in the +78kg. Director of technical planning at the Egyptian Judo Federation Gamal Saad said that for the first time in an Olympics, Egypt participated with four players and had achieved high-level positions. "It was a great victory. It had never happened that we reached the qualifying rounds in an Olympics since the founding of the International Judo Federation (IFJ) in 1964." On the failure to win any other medals, Saad argued that winning an Olympic medal was very difficult. "It is different from world or African championships. The competition is very tough. More than 200 countries participated in the Olympics and their main target was winning a medal. Moreover, the administration of sport in Egypt needs to be revamped. The relationship between sports committees and the ministry needs to be adjusted. The unstable atmosphere of our sports establishment and the changing of three ministers in two years had an effect. Each minister has his own vision. All of this had an adverse effect." It all didn't seem to hinder the judo federation. "We didn't ask for help from foreign coaches. The result was 100 per cent Egyptian," Saad said, adding that participation in international championships was important for the players for training and for international contact. The most to benefit was apparently Mesbah. A member of Al-Ittihad Sporting Club in Alexandria where he grew up, Mesbah has been practicing judo for 17 years. "I found myself in it" after he played judo and wrestling. His first achievement came in 2001 when he won a bronze medal at the African Judo Championships and did the same in the same championship in 2002. In 2004, he claimed the gold medal in the African Judo Championships but came 17th in Athens 2004. He took the silver in the 2005 African Judo Championships and silver in the Mediterranean Games that same year. He came fifth in the World Judo Championships held in Egypt. In 2007, Mesbah claimed the gold medal at the All-Africa Games in Algeria and kept his fifth place standing in the World Judo Championship held in Brazil. This year, Mesbah was a silver medalist at the African Judo Championship before going to the Olympics. "The Olympics are the hardest championships," Mesbah said. "There are no easy matches or players. So, the situation is different. It is hard to explain but you feel self-confident, relaxed and favoured by God because you have done all you can." Mesbah strongly believes his loss in the semi- final match against world champion Tsirekidze Irakli was unfair. "I received a warning in the last half minute of the match because of an unfair decision by the referees. It gave an unjust point to my opponent, which made the difference." Mesbah said the head of the Egyptian refereeing committee had told him he had been wronged and could have won the match. Mesbah also thanked his coach Basil El-Gharabawi "who always stands by side. El-Gharabawi is not just my coach. When he was a player we played together side by side on the same team. My relationship with him is like being his younger brother. "During the Games, he didn't leave my side for a moment. He shared his room with me to keep an eye on me. We do everything together. A good relationship between a coach and player leads to success," added Mesbah. El-Gharabawi, a former judo champion, became coach of the national judo team just one year ago. He admits he doesn't have much experience but played the sports for 17 years. El-Gharabawi said he treated Mesbah very much the way he wished to be treated when he was a player. El-Gharabawi wants to retire from coaching after his own business started to suffer as a result of his coaching schedule. "Coaching doesn't bring money. We are working to solve the problem," Mesbah said. For now, El-Gharabawi pointed to an analysis of the competition as one major reason for the decent Egyptian judo performance in Beijing. "We created a complete file and videos of all the matches and the championships of the players who participated in the Olympics. I also have good contacts with other coaches. "Second was the psychological part. I was very close to the players. I understand them well. I make them believe in themselves and that they will bring back medals." El-Gharabawi told Al-Ahram Weekly, "Every player played three wonderful matches, an achievement in itself. The players who beat us were No 1 in the world and Olympic champions. But we played like we had never played before. All their matches were on one day but they never got tired or lost their poise. Their fitness was very high, as were their ippons and tactics. "In Athens 2004, the Egyptian team comprised eight players. They all lost in their opening matches. The biggest achievement was that I won one match. "We had four or six players who played in all the weights. But today we have 45 judokas. All of them are good," El-Gharabawi added. There were no Egyptian women judokas, said El-Gharabawi, " because our African level is below zero. It needs a comprehensive look and a new mentality. It needs knowledgeable coaches and don't ask them for any result for three years. "Judo is very popular in Egypt, one of the sports that can compete with football. There is a large base of players." Judo is played in more than 120 clubs in Egypt. Looking ahead, Saad said four players who participated in Beijing were young enough to go to London 2012. "Two juniors, Hatem Abdel-Akher 80kg and Ahmed Awad 66kg, have entered the Olympic champion project. Awad claimed the bronze medal in the 2006 world junior championship. The EJF will choose who will represent Egypt." Mesbah, currently studying logistics in the Arab Academy for Science and Technology and Maritime Transport, described the coming period as "very important and difficult. It needs a lot of work from me, the coach and the EJF. We need to pay more attention to the programme and training plans. We need more participation in championships and international camps. We haven't discussed any of this yet." Mesbah said his Olympic medal would not make him conceited. "Nothing has changed. Hesham will remain the same."
