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Cairo 2025 Preview: Paralympic champions return for world glory

Athletes from 70 nations begin the quest for medals and LA28 qualification as Egypt hosts the first edition of the World Para Powerlifting Championships on African soil from 11 to 18 October 10 Oct 2025
A female athlete with a gold medal flexing her arms
Paris 2024 gold medallist Rehab Ahmed is one of the Egyptian stars competing on home soil
ⒸHiroki Nishioka/WPPO
By Filip Ozbolt | For World Para Powerlifting

The world’s strongest Para athletes have taken centre stage in Egypt for eight days of thrilling competition as the Cairo 2025 World Para Powerlifting Championships unfold from 11 to 18 October. This marks the first time the event is being held in Africa.

Action at the New Capital Sports Hall began with the Rookie & Next Gen World Championships on 9-10 October, featuring 11 bodyweight categories for athletes aged 20 or under. The spotlight now shifts to the Elite World Championships.

A total of 70 National Paralympic Committees will be represented by 537 athletes — 311 men and 226 women. Most notably, all Paralympic champions from the Paris 2024 Games are competing in Cairo, marking the beginning of the qualification pathway for the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympics.

 

“First day of competition is always exciting. We started off well, the athletes are happy and that is the most important thing for me,” said Massimo Dighe, Acting Head of World Para Powerlifting at the opening press conference in Cairo on Thursday (9 October).

Athletes will compete across 20 bodyweight categories — 10 for women and 10 for men — over seven days, followed by three team events on the final competition day.

Host nation leads the way

Host country Egypt is fielding the largest contingent with 33 athletes, followed by Brazil (25), China (23), and India and Uzbekistan (22 each).
In terms of gender representation, Brazil leads with 16 female athletes, including four Paralympic medallists from Paris 2024. Egypt dominates among men with 19 competitors.

 

Big names and bold moves

All gold medallists from Paris 2024 are returning to the stage — though some are moving up categories. Venezuela’s Clara Fuentes set off a domino effect by moving from the women’s up to 50kg to the 55kg class.

In turn, Egypt’s Rehab Ahmed moved to the up to 61kg category, Nigeria’s Onyinyechi Mark switched to up to 67kg, and China’s Yujiao Tan joined Paralympic champion Mariana D’Andrea in the women’s up to 73kg class.

The other major move comes from Italy’s Donato Telesca, who shifts from the men’s up to 72kg to the 88kg division. The Paralympic bronze medallist and Dubai 2023 silver medallist will now face China’s Panpan Yan instead of Malaysia’s Bonnie Bunyau Gustin.

“It will be an amazing fight with this champion,” commented Telesca on World Para Powerlifting’s Instagram post about the Chinese competitor last week.

End of an era

Four-time Paralympic champion and five-time World champion Amalia Pérez of Mexico will not compete in Cairo, ending a run of seven consecutive World Championships.

Her debut dates back to 2002 in Kuala Lumpur, where she claimed silver and began a streak of six consecutive World medals — broken at Dubai 2023, where she finished fourth in the women’s up to 67kg before taking bronze at the Paris 2024 Paralympics.

 

What’s next in Cairo

The action begins at 10:00 am local time on 11 October with the men’s up to 80kg category, opening the Elite Championships. Iran’s Roohallah Rostami will be aiming for his third World Championships gold in what will be his seventh appearance among the elite.

Across seven days, three categories will be contested daily, except on 17 October, when only two events take place — the women’s up to 86kg and the men’s over 107kg — with another Iranian, Ahmad Aminzadeh, defending his title.

Live results from all the Cairo 2025 action are available on the World Para Powerlifting website. All categories will also be live streamed via the Paralympic Games YouTube channel.

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