Egypt achieves 6 medals in Tokyo 2020, largest in its Olympic history

CAIRO, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Egypt achieved in Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 that concluded Sunday a total of six medals including one gold, one silver, and four bronzes, marking the largest number of medals secured by the nation's champions in an Olympic Games tournament.

On Saturday, Egyptian karateka Feryal Ashraf Abdelaziz won the gold medal in women's +61kg Kumite, bringing Egypt the first gold since Athens 2004 and the eighth in its Olympic history since 1912.

Abdelaziz has also become the first female gold medalist in Egypt's Olympic history.

The 22-year-old Egyptian champion was awarded the gold medal after she defeated Azerbaijan's Iryna Zaretska, while Kazakhstan's Sofya Berultseva and China's Gong Li won the bronze medals.

Soon after the match, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi congratulated Abdelaziz on this "new achievement that makes us proud and proves that Egyptians are able to make achievements in all fields" on his Facebook page.

As for the other five medals won by Egyptian athletes in Tokyo 2020, Ahmed Elgendy won a silver medal in men's modern pentathlon, Giana Lotfy got a bronze in women's -61kg Kumite, Mohamed Elsayed, aka Kesho, secured a bronze in men's 67kg Greco-Roman wrestling, Malak Hedaya got a bronze in women's -67kg taekwondo and Seif Eissa achieved a bronze in men's -80kg taekwondo.

Mohamed Fawzy, the spokesman for Egypt's Ministry of Youth and Sports, said that the ministry provides all support for athletes in cooperation with the country's Olympic committee and the concerned federations in a systematic process of "champion making."

"We have an integrated system of bodies working together in parallel to support those champions and create or make Egyptian champions who are able to compete in the biggest international sports events and activities," the ministry's spokesman told Xinhua.

He explained that the ministry in cooperation with the concerned federations provides local, regional, and foreign camps for Egyptian athletes to prepare for such events, in addition to the government's development of the infrastructure of sports venues and hosting of regional and international sports events.

"All this greatly reflected on our athletes and gave them opportunities to directly face international champions, which paved the way for them to achieve these medals in Tokyo 2020," the official told Xinhua, noting that the Egyptian presidency also provided wholehearted support to Egyptian champions.

Egypt's total medals throughout its 23 participations in the Olympic Games since 1912 rose to 38: eight golds, 11 silvers, and 19 bronzes.

Although Egypt's handball team failed to achieve third place in its match versus Spain in Tokyo, its impressive performance throughout the tournament was a source of pride for all Egyptians.

The Egyptian team defeated those of Sweden and Germany and were a strong opponent in the matches they lost to Denmark, France and Spain.

Egyptian Minister of Youth and Sports Ashraf Sobhy said in a statement from Tokyo on Saturday that the handball team's fourth-place represented "an achievement that we are all proud of."

"The Egyptian (handball) team gained the respect of all the participating teams due to its distinguished performance and its victory over the top teams of the world's handball champions," the Egyptian sports minister added.