Gold medalist Sherif Othman of Egypt poses during the medal ceremony of the men's -56 kg Powerlifting at the London 2012 Paralympic Games
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- Sherif Othman retains his Paralympic Games title
Sherif Othman began his powerlifting career in 2005 after he was encouraged by his coach, Said Abdelhafez, who was the first Egyptian powerlifter to medal at the Paralympics.
Othman had previously been a shot putter, although, he went on to make his name at the 2006 IPC Powerlifting World Championships in Korea, as he lifted 175kg to help earn himself a silver medal, falling just short of gold to China’s Wang Jian, who lifted 180kg.
With a couple years of training, by the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, Othman found himself atop the podium. He won gold in the -56kg category four days before his birthday, breaking the world record three times on his way to victory.
The Egyptian’s first attempt at 195kg toppled the previous world record of 194kg, which was held by Jian.
Afterwards, Othman went on to lift 200kg in his next attempt and with his final lift he cemented his name in the record books by impressively shifting 202.5kg.
Two years later, Othman rewrote his own world record at the 2010 IPC Powerlifting World Championships Championships in Malaysia.
He lifted 205kg en route to gold in the men's -56kg category on the second day of the competition at the Titiwangsa Stadium.
At London 2012, Othman retained his Paralympic title in the men’s -56kg powerlifting category, despite failing to break his own Paralympic record of 202.5kg in two attempts.
The world-recorder holder lifted 197kg with his first attempt before narrowly failing to lift 205kg twice.
Othman, who trains six times a week, believes he can break his own world record again at some point in the future, which suggests he still has a lot to offer to the sport.
