Syrian weightlifter Ma'an As'ad has gifted his country its first Olympic medal since 2004, while Egyptian wrestler Mohamed Sayed Ibrahim "Kishou" secured a bronze medal in Greco-Roman wrestling on Wednesday at the Tokyo Olympics.
Ma'an As'ad, 27, earned a bronze in the +109 kg weight category by lifting 190 kg in the snatch and 234 kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 424 kg, finishing third behind Georgian Lasha Talakhadze, who set a world record with 488 kg, and Iranian Ali Daoudi with 441 kg.
As'ad participated in the current games after recovering from shoulder pain that followed his participation in the Asian Championship in Uzbekistan last April, where he earned three silver medals with a local record of 433 kg (195 kg in the snatch and 238 kg in the clean and jerk).
Previously, As'ad ranked fifteenth in the Rio Olympics, competing in the +105 kg category with a total lift of 400 kg (180 kg in the snatch and 220 kg in the clean and jerk).
Throughout his career, he has won the Syrian championship in various categories, first gaining international recognition at the age of 14 during the Asian Youth Championship in Uzbekistan in 2009. He also won the Asian Championship in Kyrgyzstan in 2013 and the Challenge Cup in Switzerland in 2019. In 2019, he placed fifth in the World Championship in Thailand and earned three silver medals at the Asian Championship in Uzbekistan in 2021.
As'ad was previously suspended for two years by the International Federation in April 2010 after testing positive for the banned substance methandienone.
Syria has won a total of three Olympic medals since it first participated in 1948: a gold medal by Ghada Shouaa in the heptathlon at the Atlanta 1996 Olympics, a silver by wrestler Joseph Atiya in the 100 kg freestyle at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics, and a bronze by boxer Nasser Al-Shami in the 91 kg category at the Athens 2004 Olympics.
Algerian Walid Beddani missed the competition after contracting COVID-19.
**Bronze for "Kishou"**
Egyptian wrestler Mohamed Sayed Ibrahim "Kishou" won a bronze medal in Greco-Roman wrestling after defeating Russian Artyom Surkov under a neutral flag 3-1 (1-1 on points).
Kishou, 23, started his journey on Tuesday in the round of 16 of the 67 kg weight category with a victory over South Korean Hansu Ryu 7-6, and then defeated Armenian Karen Aslanyan in the quarter-finals 7-7 on points. In the semi-finals, he was close to qualifying for the gold medal match but lost to Ukrainian Bervez Nasibov, who came from behind to win 7-6.
In the bronze medal match, Kishou scored an equalizing point against Surkov, securing the victory over the 2018 world champion.
The Alexandria native began wrestling at age five and was named the best U23 wrestler by the United World Wrestling in 2019.
This marks Egypt's third medal at the current Olympics, following the bronze medals in taekwondo by Seif Eissa (-80 kg) and Hedaya Malak (-57 kg).
It is also Egypt's eighth medal in Greco-Roman wrestling, with previous medals including Ibrahim Mustafa’s gold in the light heavyweight category in 1928, Mahmoud Hassan’s silver in the flyweight category, and several other medals over the years up to Kareem Jaber's gold in the 96 kg category in 2004 and a silver in the 84 kg category in 2012.
Just minutes after Kishou's win, fellow Egyptian Mohamed Metwally was unable to follow in his footsteps, losing to German Maximilian Denis Kudla 1-8 in the bronze medal match at 87 kg.
Metwally had previously defeated Belarusian Kirill Maskevich 9-1 technically and Cuban Daniel Gregoritich Hitchivar in a fall 4-0. In the semi-finals, he lost to Hungarian Viktor Lorincz 2-9.
With the medals of As'ad and Kishou, the Arab total has now reached 11 medals, including four golds.
In athletics, Bahraini Moti Lee Winfried Yafi, 21, could not replicate Ruth Jebet’s gold medal achievement in the women’s 3000m steeplechase from Rio 2016, finishing tenth with a time of 9:19.74, after previously setting the fastest qualifying time of 9:10.80.
Egyptian Ihab Abdel Rahman, 32, narrowly missed advancing in the javelin throw qualification, finishing 13th with a throw of 81.92 meters, just outside the top 12 qualifiers.
In diving, Egyptian Maha Gawda qualified as a reserve for the semi-finals of the 10-meter platform after finishing in 20th place with a score of 275.30 points, compared to 390.70 for the leading Chinese diver Yushi Chen.
