Egyptian gymnasts are preparing for the Pan-Arab Games, reports Ghada Abd El-Kader To get ready for the Pan-Arab Games to be held in Egypt in November, the third Arab junior championship for gymnastics was held, the second time to be hosted by Egypt. Eleven countries participated. In rhythmic competitions, Egypt came first, collecting a huge 13 gold medals out of 14. "The performance of the Egyptians was very inspiring," president of the Egyptian Gymnastics Federation (EGF) Wagdi Abul-Maati said. "We were surprised with the performance of the Iraqi men who took second place. Also, we were happy with the participation of Kuwaiti women for the first time." In the championship, in the individual competition, Egyptians Mohamed Mahmoud won first place, Tarek Hamdi won second place and Ahmed El-Sayed third. In the final of the teams, Egypt won first place with total of 321.000 points. Iraq took second place with 271.200. Both Algeria and Morocco won third place with a tied score of 270.950 points. Abul-Maati told Al-Ahram Weekly of the big future in store for Mohamed Mahmoud who won first place and Tarek Hamdi who took second place. The two will spend five years in China until the 2012 Olympics in London. "China is considered the best country in gymnastics. It has several world champions. After they come back we will have two world champions," Maati said. "The EGF does its best in providing all the needed equipment for the gymnasts," Abul-Maati said. "The equipment is very expensive. We bought new equipment costing LE1 million for the Pan-Arab Games. For the first time the rhythmic gymnasts will be included in the championship. We also provided small clubs like Minya, Assiut, Dahaqlia and Port Said with facilities to encourage them to practice the sport." Lina Mounir, the coach of gymnast Yasmine Mounir in Sporting Club in Alexandria, said there were a lot of skills needed to be a good gymnast. "You have to be very flexible by nature, have a strong will, be a very hard worker and receive a lot of support from the federation and your club. "I recommend that youngsters start playing gymnastics from the age of five and not before because they are too young and not after because they need more flexibility. In order to be a real champion it needs 15 or 20 years because of the hard work. Even if you train twice a day, six times a week, you will still make a lot of mistakes." Syrian Lauren Shaker started playing gymnastics four years ago. "My mother encouraged me. Gymnastics is a difficult game. It needs a long period of time, approximately four to six years, in order to have good results." This was the fifth time Shaker participated in competitions in Egypt. Nine Syrian gymnasts qualified for the finals. "I've been practicing for nine years," Mariz Shawqi said. "My sister was a gymnast, too." From Sporting Club in Alexandria, Yasmine Rostom, 13, fell in love with gymnastics "at first sight." Head of the technical committee for artistic gymnastics in the Arab Gymnastics Federation Rabab El-Harith said there were improvements in the performance of some countries but that others were going backwards. "Morocco finished in second place last year but third place this year. Syrian did not win last year but this year took second place. "The performances of the Egyptian gymnasts are outstanding. This shows the great effort of the EGF and their coaches."
