World champion Ahmed leads hosts’ domination at Cairo 2023 World Cup

From astonishing display of raw strength to emotional triumphs, the Cairo 2023 World Para Powerlifting World Cup delivered an amazing spectacle over the weekend, especially for the hosts.

Egypt, buoyed by the home crowd and led by world champion Rehab Ahmed, finished the competition as the most successful team with their athletes triumphing in 14 out of 23 events.

Ahmed lifted 134kg to grab the gold in her new category, women’s up to 55kg, adding 4kg to the weight of 130kg that made her world champion for the fourth time in a row at Dubai 2023 World Championships in August. 

The Egyptian two-time Paralympic silver medallist also contributed with a 120kg lift in the mixed team event alongside her teammates Mohamed Elmenyawy and Mohamed Elelfat, who together scored 372.87 points, to carry the Egypt’s flag to the top of the podium in the mixed team event.

Individually, Elmenyawy and Elelfat also made their contribution in the hosts’ gold medal haul they lifted respectively 190kg in the men’s up to 59kg and 223kg in the men’s up to 88kg.

Omar, Mahmoud, Korany triumph

Omaima Omar, Randa Mahmoud, and Safaa Hassan were other Egyptian powerlifters who collected golds in both individual and team events. Together, they accumulated 287.66 points in the women’s team event by lifting 95kg, 125kg, and 120kg respectively. 

Separately, Hassan triumphed in the women’s up to 73kg with an effort of 127kg while Mahmoud managed a successful lift of 132kg lift for the women’s up to 86kg honours, while Omar emerged the winner in the women’s up to 50kg with an effort of 103kg.

In their 14 gold -medal winning campaign in Cairo 2023, the home nation also had contributions from Fatma Korany and Nadia Ali in the women’s up to 61kg and over 86kg respectively; and from the men’s event - Taha Abdelmajid in the up to 54kg, Mazhar Elsayed in the up to 80kg, and Mahmoud Attia in the up to 72kg categories, in addition to the men’s team composed by Fouad Mohamed, Abdelbaset Mousa, and Hassan Elattar.

Visitors on the podium

Aside from the Egyptian, four other National anthems were played out loud during the three days of Cairo 2023.

Algeria were on top of the podium four times. Among the men, an effort of 145kg by Hadj Beyour in the up to 49kg and Hocine Bettir with a 190kg lift in the up to 65kg category were enough to fetch them the gold while Nacera Merar and Samira Guerioua lifted 127kg and 93kg to be the champions of the up to 79kg and up to 45kg events, respectively.

Georgia too celebrated their three gold medals thanks to the efforts of Maka Kvinchia who lifted 84kg in the women’s up to 67kg, while Iago Gorgodze was the winner in men’s up to 107kg with effort of 190kg. Meanwhile, Akaki Jintcharadze made a successful lift of 230kg in the men’s over 107kg.

Italy and Kenya also saw their flags in the highest spot of the podium as Andrea Quarto won the Cairo 2023’s first event with a 206kg lift in the men’s up to 97kg while Hellen Kariuki lifted 98kg in the women’s up to 41kg category.

The full results of the Cairo 2023 World Para Powerlifting World Cup can be found here.

Last stop before 2024

From Cairo, Egypt, the World Para Powerlifting World Cup now travels to Asia as the competition lands in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand for a four-day competition from 5 to 8 December.

The 2023 World Para Powerlifting international season started in Tbilisi, Georgia in April followed by the Veracruz 2023 Parapan American World Cup in June, the Dubai 2023 World Championships in August, and the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Para Games in October.

More information about the 2023 and 2024 season can be found here.