Egypt at #Tokyo #Paralympics2020 : Silver , Bronze medals and the amazing Hamadtou

In the past 72 hours, Egypt achieved great results in the Tokyo Paralympics in case that you do not know. “Most of you do not know”

They are overshadowed by the footballers' news unfortunately with all this ongoing Shika drama, so here is a recap of the achievements of Team Egypt at the Paralympics Tokyo 2020.

Sherif Othman in Tokyo 2020 "Getty images"

On Friday, Egyptian weightlifter Sherif Othman won Egypt’s first Medal in Tokyo Paralympics 2020. Othman won the Silver media in the 59 kg after lifting 187 kg.

This is Othman’s fourth medal in the Paralympics and his first silver medal. He won three gold medals consecutively in Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016.

Othman in Tokyo 2020 "Getty images"

Shortly on the same day, Egyptian weightlifter Rehab Radwan won the country’s second Medal in the games. 

Kodak Agfa Presents : The Royal Taxidermy and Hunting Museum

This post was planned for the occasion of Egypt’s National Day aka 23 July Coup/Revolution/Movement “Whatever you prefer” as Kodak Agfa would like to share with you those couple of photos taken in summer 2019 but time was not that friendly.

It ended up posted a month later!!

If you are into bizarre-stuff-niche museums with a little dark twist, then you will like this post. 

If you are into hunting and animal taxidermy, then this is your place.

Gazelles shoulder mount taxidermy at the Royal taxidermy

This post is about the Mohamed Ali Taxidermy and Hunting Museum or as officially known “Royal Hunting Museum”.

This place is in the Prince Mohamed Ali Tawfik Estate at Cairo’s Al-Manial island which I visited with a group of friends in August 2019.

We already visited its beautiful small mosque and saw how much the eccentric prince who could have been a king was influenced by Islamic architecture especially in Andalusia.

Our next stop in this big estate that looks like a small oasis inside the buzzing Cairo is the Royal Hunting Museum or Mohamed Ali taxidermy museum. “I hope its trees survive the trees massacre still going on across the country”

Water Buffaloe's shoulder mount taxidermy and goose taxidermy
 at the Royal taxidermy museum

First, I apologize for the bad photography as the lighting in the Museum is not camera friendly. There are out of focus photos too. 

I thought at first this is the personal collection of Prince Mohamed Ali Tawfik and that building where he used to taxidermize those poor animals he hunted and collected.

This made me think that he would be more eccentric than he was already.

But I was mistaken.

That small building located near the mosque did not exist before the 1960s. It was not part of the original buildings in the estate, nor it was commissioned by Prince Mohamed Ali Tawfik.

Egyptian Faces : Hafiza Rostom El-Alfi

I could not ignore that photo of this lady in a Victorian dress greeting me as I was heading to get my Covid-19 vaccination jabs at Giza’s Islamic Association Charity Agouza hospital aka Agouza hospital’s clinics' annexe.

A close-up enhanced photo of Hafiza El-Alfi, yes I used Remini as the photo
was not great.

I took my mobile phone and snapped photos of the photo and a small statue bust.

Security guards were curious to know why I was doing that but how I could not when I see in front of me a very interesting Egyptian who should be remembered.

The commemoration photo of Hafiza Hanim Rostom Helmy El-Alfi at Agouza
Hospital Annexe in Gaza 

“In the memory of Hajja Hafiza Rostom El-Alfi , the wife of Youssef Bey Naguib who passed away on 13 June 1936/23 Rabei Al-Awl 1355 as she gifted her money , properties and Jewelry to the Islamic Association charity to build Agouza hospital, Cairo Ambulance Authority, The Conservation of Holy Quran Society and the support of foreign students receiving education in Al-Azhar University. ” 

This commemoration photo and a very short biography in both Arabic and French “interesting choice of language” of Hafiza, as well as a small bust statue, are located at the entrance of the new annexe of the hospital “its new clinics complex” which was inaugurated in March 2015 by former PM Ibrahim Mahleb.

This is the first time I know that an Egyptian woman was actually behind Giza’s biggest charity hospital.

I searched for more information about that aristocratic lady who decided to donate her wealth to charity but I found very little personal information and more charity works and buildings that are still standing to this day. 

Egypt at the end of #Tokyo2020 : Truly Historical Gold and Silver Medals in Karate Kumite and Modern Pantheon

Now, this is a finale for Tokyo 2020 Olympics that I love, all of us back in Egypt love to be precise. What I love in this finale is that we did not expect it all.

Egypt got Golden and Silver medals on Saturday in four hours only for the first time in Karate Kumite.

Karateka Feryal Abdel Aziz won the country’s gold medal in the final of the +61kg Karate Kumite and Modern Pantheon player won the silver medal in the game’s Individual category.

Feryal Abdel Aziz with her Gold medal and Ahmed El-Gendy with his silver medal 
"NTB and Getty" 

Both made history for the country for real.

Sadly no one paid attention to El-Gendy except when the news came from Tokyo that he won the Silver Medal and we knew more about the 21-years-old champion.

Ahmed El-Gendy as he finished 
the last race in the Pantheon as the second
"Getty" 

We knew now that the Al-Shams Club Pantheon champion already won the gold medal at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics and a bronze at the World Championship in Cairo earlier this year.

Ahmed Elgendy of #EGY takes #silver in the men’s modern pentathlon.#StrongerTogether | #Tokyo2020| @WorldPentathlon | #ModernPentathlon pic.twitter.com/GMzh3U4Xms

— Olympics (@Olympics) August 7, 2021

Needless to say, there is no real coverage for this important and hard sport in Egypt.

El-Gendy got Egypt’s first-ever medal as well as its first silver medal too in the Modern Pantheon thanks to El-Shams Club hardworking player. 

Ahmed El-Gendy and his Silver medal in Tokyo "Getty" 

It is the country’s first Silver medal after four bronze medals in Taekwondo, Wrestling and Karate Kumite. 

🎥 لحظة تتويج البطل المصري احمد الجندي بالميدالية الفضية 🥈🇪🇬
pic.twitter.com/84z9kOOZ8Y

— أخبار الكرة المصرية (@masrkora) August 7, 2021

It is Egypt’s 11th silver medal in its Olympic record.

Moving to our Golden girl, Karateka Feryal Abdel Aziz who made history by all measures.

Strong Princess Feryal Abdel Aziz from Tokyo "Getty" 

Karate Princess Feryal Abdel Aziz won her first gold medal when she defeated Azerbaijan’s Irina Zaresta in the final of the +61Kg Category on Saturday.

Feryal during the semi-final game "Getty" 

It was the greatest moment to see our Egyptian flag raised and our National Anthem played loud in the Tokyo Olympics after 17 years exactly in Athens Olympics

بلادي .. بلادي .. بلادي
لكي حبي وفؤادي ♥️ pic.twitter.com/4Qy8Yv0Z2U

— محمد الجزار (@mohamedelgazar4) August 7, 2021

“This is the least thing I can present to Egypt, If I stay thanking God till the end of my life for this moment, it won’t be enough. This is the best moment in my life” 

Our champion Feryal Abdel Aziz said proudly to the BeinTV channel, the exclusive broadcaster of the Olympics in the Arab world. “The Nasser Al-Khelaifi TV sports empire thankfully aired the game freely on Saturday. New generations won’t believe that we used to watch the Olympics for free for real in the past”

Here is the moment she won and please focus on her mother wearing blue “screaming” from Cairo’s Mataria “Oh my heart, oh my heart”.

“Thanks for my mother, for my mother for my mother, it is your achievement and not my achievement for real” 

These are the words Feryal told Bein winning our hearts and minds in Cairo after securing a 5-4 victory over Kazakhstan's Sofya Berultseva in the semi-final.

تصريح مؤثر للبطلة المصرية فريال عبد العزيز #طوكيو2020 | #أولمبياد_طوكيو#Tokyo2020 | #TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/MXcEzwhfws

— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) August 7, 2021

Feryal’s mom is like many mothers who spent hours supporting their kids especially their girls while playing Karate in Egypt despite all hardships.

I know that scene of moms taking their kids to Karate lessons in the clubs, I grew up seeing it and it is still going strong.

It is a Gold medal for those moms and their little girls to pursue their dreams.

The 22-yeas-old is the first Egyptian woman to win an Olympic Gold in history.

She is also our fourth woman to win a medal in the Olympics.

It's a #Gold for #EGY in karate!

Feryal Abdelaziz is the women’s kumite +61kg champion.#StrongerTogether | #Tokyo2020 | @WorldKarate_wkf | #KarateKumite pic.twitter.com/L5rPgHyJoI

— Olympics (@Olympics) August 7, 2021

It is the 8th Gold medal Egypt achieves in the Olympics

This is the first Gold Medal Egypt has scored since Wrestler Karam Gabr’s Gold medal in the men's Greco-Roman 96kg at the 2004 Athens Games.

Feryal Abdel Aziz of Egypt and her gold medal
in the +61 kg Karate Kumite in the Olympics "Getty" 

The young pharmacist is the first Egyptian, African and Arab woman to win the Gold Medal in the +61 kg Karate Kumite in the Olympics.

Abdel Aziz is also considered the second Egyptian, African and Arab woman to win a medal in the Olympics in general in Karate Kumite after Giana Farouk who scored the bronze medal on Friday.

Egypt has won 6 medals in the Tokyo 2020; four bronze, one silver and one gold.

This is the biggest number of medals Egypt has ever won in the Olympics since 1928.

After our medal boost on Saturday, Egypt jumped in the Olympics Medal Count and We have become 53rd.

Some achievements we must mention

A special salute to Egypt’s National Handball team after losing to Spain in the Semi-Final in the Olympics.

They did not make it to the bronze but they made history as the first Arab/Egyptian team to reach a semi-final in the Olympics as well as the first Arab/Egyptian handball team to reach a semi-final in the Olympics.

It is a great achievement and raises from the Egyptian national handball which has established itself worldwide as a strong team.

A huge salute to the handball boys especially their captain Ahmed Al-Ahmar who announced that he would quit playing internationally following the Olympics.

Thanks, Captain Al-Ahmar, you are an Egyptian GAOT for real.

People were not paying attention to El-Gendy because they were following the Handball game

Good luck to our athletes and thanks to our medalists. We are waiting for better results and more medals inshallah in Paris 2024.

Egypt near the end of #Tokyo2020 : A new and a first bronze in Karate Kumite

It is truly Egypt’s Bronze age in Tokyo 2020 Olympics !!

Egypt has scored its fourth medal in Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Friday and it is Bronze.

Karate fighter Giana Farouk with her bronze medal in Tokyo "Getty"

26-years-old Egyptian Karate fighter Giana Farouk claimed the bronze medal of the Women’s Karate Kumite’s –61kg event after losing by Hantei 1-1 to the Chinese Karate Fighter Xiayan Yin who got the silver medal later.

The Karate Egyptian queen made a true history in Tokyo.

Giana Farouk is the first Egyptian, Arab, Muslim and African woman to win a medal in the Olympics in Karate Kumite.

Thanks to Al-Ahly Club Karate Fighter, Karate Kumite is the 8th game Egypt scored a medal in it since the launch of the Olympics.

Coronavirus on the Nile: 18 months of Covid-19 in Egypt in graphs

Another monthly post as part of the Covid-19 coverage in Egyptian Chronicles.

This time it is a quick look into official Covid-19 numbers in Egypt after 18 months since its arrival to the country in February 2020.

According to Minister of Health Hala Zayed in early January, the official numbers of cases represent between 10%-15% of the real number of cases worldwide Egypt included.

Egyptian doctors checking an X-ray at a public isolation hospital in Cairo "AFP

Those official numbers represent the patients who enter the ICUs in designated coronavirus isolation public hospitals in the country in critical condition according to official statements, not the mild cases of coronavirus or those who receive treatment at home.

Here is the graph, it is interactive so you can click on it and click on the tabs to compare between 2020 and 2021.

Egypt in the second week of #Tokyo2020 : A new Bronze medal in Wrestling this time

Egypt has scored its third medal in Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Wednesday and it feels good again after really depressing results.

23-years-old Mohamed Ibrahim El-Sayed aka Kesho won the bronze medal of the Greco-roman 67kg event after beating the 2018 World Champion Artem Surkov of Russia Russian Olympic Committee.

Kesho and his bronze medal "Reuters" 

Kesho won the game despite he was injured.

Kesho's bronze medal is Egypt's eighth Olympic medal in Greco-roman Wrestling {two gold, three silver and three bronze}.

Coronavirus on the Nile: Egypt’s Covid-19 July 2021 numbers in Graph

This is the time of our monthly post about the coronavirus pandemic and its numbers in graphs.

The official numbers of coronavirus cases in July 2021 in Egypt continued to decline sharply to their lowest point since August 2020 following a sharp and steady decline in June 2021.

During the Eid in an Alexandria's public beach "Getty"
No social distancing or masks, most of them have not been vaccinated yet :(

Now to June's official numbers' graph.

Disclaimer: According to Minister of Health Hala Zayed in early January, the official numbers of cases represent between 10%-15% of the real number of cases worldwide Egypt included.

First, the official daily cases of coronavirus in Egypt.

#Coronavirus on the Nile : August’s Coronavirus in Egypt and Arab world “Live Coverage”

It is another new month under the coronavirus pandemic in Egypt and the World.

It is August and it seems that we may start to see an increase in the cases of coronavirus in Egypt.

The official number of cases declined to its lowest point in July in Egypt but at the end of the month, it began to increase unofficially and officially.

A masked lady buying plastic flowers in Giza from a street vendor 
by Eslam Gomaa 

The health experts in the country expect the country to enter its coronavirus’ fourth wave in September already.

Egypt did not have this expansion in mass vaccination as expected in July but hopefully, it will catch up in August.

Countries like Iraq and Tunisia were hit hard in July.

Algeria and Morocco also witnessed a huge increase in cases of coronavirus.

Please stay safe, keep your social distance and get vaccinated as soon as possible.

Here is our monthly live coverage of everything coronavirus below.