CAIRO: After 15 days of fierce competition, the 9th All-Africa Games in Algiers came to an end last Monday, July 23, with Egypt walking away with 74 gold medals, the highest count this term, making its overall medal haul reach 199. Although Algeria earned a total of 204 medals, only 70 of those were gold, bringing the country in at second place. Egypt earned gold medals in fields such as volleyball, handball, and fencing. The Egyptian handball team beat the host Algerian team in the final match, followed by a victory over the Tunisian team 3-1 in the final match last Sunday. Mohamed Salah, public relations manager at the Egyptian Volleyball Federation said that winning the gold medal is an achievement and prepares the team for the African Nations Cup in South Africa later this year. Amr Makhlouf, board member of the Egyptian Volleyball Federation and head of the competition s committee, agrees with Salah and also considers the gold medal an accomplishment, but says it is only natural, since Egypt proved to be African champions in the African Nations Cup in 2005. Makhlouf believes that Egypt faced strong competition, which gives the players confidence and qualifies them for the African Nations Cup this coming September. Egypt is the most successful nation in the history of the All-Africa Games, this year marking its 4th time at the top of the medal table. It earned the top spot in 1965, 1973 and again in 1991. Alaa Abdel Ghani, senior editor and sports critic for Al-Ahram Weekly, believes that the 74 gold medals are a very good result for Egypt, especially because the teams were playing abroad, unlike the 1991 win, when the tournament was held in Egypt. Abdel Ghani said that the strong competition Egypt faced was good preparation for the upcoming Olympic Games in November.
