President honours Paralympic medalists of 2020 Tokyo Games

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on Thursday honoured Egypt’s heroes who won medals at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics and their trainers.

Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli and Minister of Youth and Sports Ashraf Sobhy attended the honouring ceremony, together with President of the Egyptian Paralympic Committee Hayat Khattab, Presidency Spokesman Ambassador Bassam Radi said.

President Sisi granted Mohamed el-Zayat, winner of Egypt’s only silver medal in Taekwondo, a second-class medal of sports. Technical Manger Mahmoud Abdel-Gawwad and Trainer Hani Ali also received second-class medals.

The president also granted second-class medals of sport to powerlifting players Sherif Othman, Mahmoud Mohamed, Rehab Ahmed and Fatma Omar. The four players won silver medals in the 2020 games.

Head of the technical body for powerlifting Mahmoud Nabil, women’s technical director Shaaban Yehia, men’s technical director Emad
el-Din Bahgat, women’s coach Sherif Hassan and men’s coach Abdel Moneim Salah were also granted second-class medals, Ambassador Radi added.

The president also granted bronze winners Mohamed Sobhy and Hany Mohsen third-class medals of sports.

President Sisi praised the achievements of the sports champions and their coaches to uphold the image of the country and enhance its position in the international sports events, the spokesman said.

The president hailed the champions saying they had a high sense of national responsibility and gained the respect and appreciation of the entire Egyptian people. They presented themselves as role models for the Egyptian young people to achieve their ambitions, Radi noted.

Egypt’s Paralympic champions have demonstrated that strong will and solid determination are able to conquer hardships, realise achievements, and reach the aspired goals, Sisi said.

President Sisi gave directives to intensify support to the Egyptian champions in preparation for the next Paralympic Games in 2024, so that they can be able to make further achievements and contribute to placing their country on the regional and global status it deserves.

For their parts, the Paralympic champions expressed their gratitude to President Sisi and said that being honoured by the president would give them a strong push to do more in sports and serve the nation, the spokesman said.

They also lauded the continuous support by President Sisi for abolishing all obstacles at the Games to help carry on with their achievements in their sports career.