Egyptian hero Ahmed El-Gendy recalls ‘crazy’ reaction to Olympic gold as he targets greater heights in 2025

Ahmed Elgendy of Egypt celebrates winning the gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics — Modern Pentathlon — Men’s Final Laser Run — at Chateau de Versailles, Versailles, on Aug. 10, 2024. (Reuters)
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Updated 15 January 2025
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Egyptian hero Ahmed El-Gendy recalls ‘crazy’ reaction to Olympic gold as he targets greater heights in 2025

  • Winner of modern pentathlon at the 2024 Games spoke to Arab News about success in Paris, Mohamed Salah and challenges this year

LONDON: As Egyptian pentathlete Ahmed El-Gendy rounded the last corner in Paris last summer, he pounded his chest and looked to the heavens.

This was it. He had been told as a child that he could be a future Olympic champion and here he was, 15 years later, fulfilling his first coach’s prediction by winning gold in the modern pentathlon at the 2024 Games.

El-Gendy’s gold was just reward for a lifetime of toil, competing against the odds in a sport that — since its Olympic debut in 1912 — had been largely dominated by Europeans.

On the final day of the 2024 Olympics, the 24-year-old became the first Egyptian, Arab and African athlete to be crowned modern pentathlon champion.

“It feels fresh in my mind, like it was yesterday,” El-Gendy told Arab News in an exclusive interview. “Just a couple of days ago, the Olympics posted a video on their Instagram and it showed those last 50 meters again when I crossed the line. It gave me goosebumps.

“When I think back it just felt unreal. For three years, since I got silver in Tokyo, I was dreaming of this gold. These were tough years, with injuries and a lot of struggles, but finally I made it to a gold medal in the Olympics.”

Modern pentathlon is a complex, multi-disciplinary event that requires its competitors to demonstrate an impressive range of sporting skills. It has traditionally involved swimming, fencing, showjumping, running and shooting.

The latter two has been paired in recent years in what has been termed a “laser run,” designed to create an entertaining finale to the event.

It was in the laser run at the 2021 Tokyo Games that El-Gendy first emerged as an elite contender, producing a stirring performance to claim silver. Seemingly an also-ran in 13th place heading into the final race, the then-21-year-old left the field in his wake to finish as Olympic runner-up.

Despite suffering injuries in the intervening years, El-Gendy found himself among the favorites for gold when the Olympics came to Paris last summer. And he duly delivered, setting a new Olympic and world record in in the process.

“These records are a big thing because they put you on another level,” El-Gendy said. “Very few world records were broken in the Paris Olympics so I was very proud of it. It was a great moment for me.

“This time, I was a little more stressed because in Tokyo I wasn’t expected to get the silver medal and I was still young but in Paris, all eyes were on me.

“I tried to deal with it by treating it like it was my first Olympics, trying to feel no pressure. People were talking about me as a potential champion but it was only when I had built up a big enough gap that I felt confident that it was my medal.”

El-Gendy’s gold was only the ninth won by an Egyptian athlete in the history of the Olympics and the first by an Egyptian man since Karam Gaber was crowned Greco-Roman wrestling champion in Athens in 2004.

Unsurprisingly, the reception El-Gendy received when he returned to Cairo from Paris was rapturous.

“It was crazy,” he said of the welcome in the Egyptian capital. “There were friends and family of course, but then just so many other people and media.

“The Egyptian people are very emotional so when they see someone is in a position to win something, they support that person with all their power and all the energy.

“I felt this in Paris. I saw on social media that people were putting their hopes on me, that they were really watching and that they really wanted me to win.

“It made me very happy and I was very proud to get this medal for Egypt.”

Among those offering congratulations was Egypt’s most famous athlete. Not only did Mohamed Salah get in touch with El-Gendy, the Liverpool star led his fellow Pharaohs in a guard of honor for the pentathlete and Egypt’s other Olympians.

“We had conversations, messages,” El-Gendy said, smiling. “He commented on my post on Instagram; he just wrote the number one.

“Then when we returned back to Egypt, there was a training camp for the football team so we went to the stadium and it was amazing because as the captain of the national team, Mo Salah was the first one in this line. He seemed to be very happy and very proud of us.”

El-Gendy is already plotting the defense of his Olympic crown at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles but the Egyptian will face, quite literally, a new set of obstacles.

With the future of modern pentathlon as an Olympic event under threat, its governing body, the UIPM or Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne, has taken drastic steps to ensure inclusion for 2028.

One of its long-standing disciplines, showjumping, has been replaced by obstacle racing — think Ninja Warrior — in a bid to make pentathlon more accessible and audience-friendly.

El-Gendy admits opinion among athletes has been divided but that he understands the change is necessary for pentathlon’s preservation.

“Whenever any decisions are taken in sport, people will disagree,” El-Gendy said. “A few years ago people were upset when the laser run became one event, but now we can see it is more interesting for the spectators and the athletes too.

“Some people do not want to accept it and others are supporting it, but it had to be done. We had this threat that modern pentathlon wouldn’t make it to the Los Angeles Games without this change so we had to do it.

“I feel sad in a way because I have been doing this sport for 15 years but it will make pentathlon more accessible to so many countries.

“Now that we don’t need horses, we can see many other countries competing and winning at the Olympics and World Championships, not just those who can afford to have the conditions for showjumping.”

While El-Gendy is welcoming the opportunity to hone a new sporting skill, he recognizes that an existing shoulder injury might make obstacle racing particularly challenging for him.

However, the pentathlete — like many of those who competed at the 2024 Olympics — is dedicating the first half of this year to training for obstacle racing before entering his first event of 2025 in the summer.

For Egypt’s gold medal hero, there is one driving force that will keep him going for the next three-and-a-half years.

“My goal is to train hard and really get into the obstacles, to be very very good at it so that by 2027, 2028, I can be at the top and in Los Angeles to defend my Olympic title,” El-Gendy said.

“When I do something I have to be the best at it, there’s no other option for me. I don’t want to be a silver medalist at Los Angeles 2028, I want to win gold. I will work so hard for it and give it my all to win another gold in LA.”


Australian Open: Ben Shelton will face defending champion Jannik Sinner in the semifinals

Updated 6 sec ago
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Australian Open: Ben Shelton will face defending champion Jannik Sinner in the semifinals

“I’m relieved,” said Shelton, who will meet No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy on Friday
Sinner looked and played much better than he did — hand trembling, head dizzy — during a four-set struggle against Holger Rune in the fourth round

MELBOURNE: Ben Shelton’s Australian Open quarterfinal foe, Lorenzo Sonego, produced the shot of the tournament — diving to his left for a volley with so much spin that the ball bounced on one side of the net, then floated back over to the other — but it was the American who ended up with the victory Wednesday.
The left-handed Shelton did some entertaining of his own, including earning cheers by doing a couple of push-ups after tumbling in the concluding tiebreaker, and he reached his second Grand Slam semifinal at age 22 by beating the unseeded Sonego 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (4).
“I’m relieved,” said Shelton, who will meet No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy on Friday for a spot in the final. “Shout out Lorenzo Sonego because that was some ridiculous tennis.”
Sinner, the defending champion at Melbourne Park, completely overwhelmed the last Australian in the men’s bracket, No. 8 Alex de Minaur, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 at night.
“It’s been too many times playing him and seeing the same thing. So I’m not even surprised anymore when I face him,” said de Minaur, who is now 0-10 against Sinner over their careers. “Matches like these happen.”
Sinner looked and played much better than he did — hand trembling, head dizzy — during a four-set struggle against Holger Rune in the fourth round. After giving himself a bit of a break on Tuesday, sleeping in and only hitting on court for about 30 or 40 minutes, Sinner said his body was much better.
“For sure, was (my) best match of the tournament so far,” said Sinner, who stretched his unbeaten winning streak to 19 matches dating back to last season.
Shelton, who is seeded 21st, closed the first set against Sonego with a 144 mph (232 kph) ace, tied for the fastest serve over the past 1 1/2 weeks, and flexed his left arm after smacking a powerful forehand to close a 22-stroke point and earn a break in the second. His father Bryan, a former tour pro who is Ben’s coach, grinned, too, while patting his own right biceps.
A few points from the end, Shelton sprinted to get his racket on a seemingly unreachable ball, and fell into a courtside advertising board as Sonego hit an easy winner to take the point.
Shelton stayed on the ground for a bit, then earned applause for his effort — and post-fall calisthenics.
When Shelton closed things with a 26th forehand winner — he had zero via backhands — he flexed again and sneered until his expression morphed into a smile.
At his news conference, Shelton offered some unprompted comments critical of some of the people handling on-court post-match interviews.
As good as Shelton is with his serves and forehands, his improving return game is a significant part of what carried him to the final four at the Australian Open for the first time.
He did just enough in that department, accumulating 11 break points and converting three, against Sonego, an Italian ranked 55th. Shelton entered the match coming through on 52 percent of his break chances, the highest rate among the eight men’s quarterfinalists.
Shelton lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2023 US Open semifinals.
The other semifinal will be Djokovic vs. No. 2 Alexander Zverev. Djokovic continued his pursuit of an 11th Australian Open title, and unprecedented 25th major trophy, by overcoming a leg injury and Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in a quarterfinal that began Tuesday night and ended at nearly 1 a.m. on Wednesday.
The women’s semifinals Thursday night are No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, the tournament winner in each of the last two years, against No. 11 Paula Badosa, and No. 2 Iga Swiatek against No. 19 Madison Keys.
The crowd-pleasing factor was high for Shelton vs. Sonego, who never before had made it this far at a major.
Sonego went 67-for-90 on trips to the net, and his highlight-reel volley came at the outset of the second set. It was so remarkable that Shelton acknowledged the effort by offering a congratulatory handshake.
There was another terrific shot by Sonego in the fourth set, when he raced with his back to the net and spun to hit a hook shot of sorts that resulted in a winner.
It’s Shelton, though, who will get to keep playing in Melbourne this year.

Lewis Hamilton waves to fans as he drives a Ferrari F1 car for the first time

Updated 6 min 6 sec ago
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Lewis Hamilton waves to fans as he drives a Ferrari F1 car for the first time

  • Hamilton was behind the wheel of a 2023-specification Ferrari SF-23 bearing his racing number, 44, at the team’s Fiorano test track
  • The 40-year-old British driver set out for his first lap at 9:16 a.m. local time in light fog and twice waved to a crowd of around 1,000 spectators

MODENA, Italy: Lewis Hamilton greeted a crowd of waiting fans on Wednesday as he drove a Ferrari Formula 1 car for the first time since joining the Italian team for the 2025 season.
Hamilton was behind the wheel of a 2023-specification Ferrari SF-23 bearing his racing number, 44, at the team’s Fiorano test track, and wore a new helmet design in yellow with a prominent Prancing Horse logo.
The 40-year-old British driver set out for his first lap at 9:16 a.m. local time in light fog and twice waved to a crowd of around 1,000 spectators, who had gathered on a nearby bridge despite the cold and wet weather.
Part-way through the day, Hamilton headed over to fans who had waited for hours in the wet conditions since early morning for a glimpse of him behind the wheel. Wearing a jacket in Ferrari red, he waved, gave a thumbs-up gesture and put a hand to his heart.
There was excitement Wednesday from one of Italy’s biggest sports stars, too.
After reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open, top-ranked tennis player Jannik Sinner was asked by an Italian reporter if he had seen anything on social media about Hamilton’s Ferrari debut.
“It’s still pretty strange to see him in red,” Sinner said, “but it’ll be a great season.”
Hamilton has shaken up F1 with his move to Ferrari after 12 years with Mercedes, where he won six of his seven world titles. He has said he’s fulfilling a childhood dream.
“I’ve been lucky enough to have achieved things in my career I never thought possible, but part of me has always held on to that dream of racing in red. I couldn’t be happier to realize that dream today,” he said Monday after arriving at Ferrari’s Maranello headquarters for his first day at work with the new team.
F1 tightly restricts teams from testing current-specification cars but the rules are more loose for older cars like the SF-23 that Hamilton drove Wednesday. The F1 regulations for 2025 allow Hamilton to drive up to 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) over four days in older F1 cars under the “testing of previous cars” rule. The SF-23 is the most recent Ferrari that’s eligible.
Pre-season testing for the new season’s cars is from Feb. 26 through 28 in Bahrain.


India win toss and bowl first against England in first T20 as fit-again Shami left out

Updated 28 min 34 sec ago
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India win toss and bowl first against England in first T20 as fit-again Shami left out

  • India is the reigning world champion at the T20 format

KOLKATA: India won the toss and chose to bowl first in the series-opening T20 against England’s cricketers in Kolkata on Wednesday.
Mohammed Shami missed out for India despite the fast bowler being available after more than a year on the sidelines.
India is the reigning world champion at the T20 format.
It is Brendon McCullum’s first white-ball match since becoming England’s all-format coach.
Teams:
India: Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Azar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy.
England: Phil Salt, Ben Duckett, Jos Buttler, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.


Struggling Dortmund sack coach Sahin after four-game losing run in 2025

Updated 22 January 2025
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Struggling Dortmund sack coach Sahin after four-game losing run in 2025

  • “Borussia Dortmund have released head coach Nuri Sahin with immediate effect,” said the club
  • Dortmund said current Under-19 coach Mike Tullberg would be in charge

BERLIN: Borussia Dortmund have fired coach Nuri Sahin, the German soccer club said on Wednesday, after Tuesday’s shock 2-1 loss to Bologna in the Champions League that stretched their losing run to four games across all competitions.
“Borussia Dortmund have released head coach Nuri Sahin with immediate effect following an internal analysis of recent sporting developments,” said the club in a statement.
The Ruhr valley club, last year’s Champions League finalists, conceded two goals in two minutes in the second half against the Italians after taking a 15th minute lead.
They have also lost all three league matches in 2025, dropping down to 10th place in the Bundesliga and putting their participation next season in Europe’s premier club competition at risk.
“After four defeats in a row and only one win from the last nine games ... we have unfortunately lost faith in being able to achieve our sporting goals in the current constellation,” Dortmund managing director Lars Ricken said in the statement.


“This decision also hurts me personally, but it was no longer avoidable after the game in Bologna.”
Dortmund said current Under-19 coach Mike Tullberg would be in charge for their league game against Werder Bremen on Saturday.
Sahin, 36, leaves the club just a little over half a year after being appointed to replace Edin Terzic as the new coach.
The German-born former Türkiye international was a former youth and senior player at the club. He became an assistant coach at Dortmund in 2024 after a two-year coaching spell at Türkiye’s Antalyaspor. He had signed a contract to 2027.


Pakistani cricketers Saud Shakeel, Noman Ali break into ICC top 10 Test rankings

Updated 22 January 2025
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Pakistani cricketers Saud Shakeel, Noman Ali break into ICC top 10 Test rankings

  • Saud Shakeel and Noman Ali were both instrumental in Pakistan’s recent Test win against West Indies in Multan
  • Shakeel moves up to number 8 in batter’s rankings as Noman Ali moves to number 9 in ICC bowler’s rankings

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani cricketers Saud Shakeel and Noman Ali have broken into the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) top 10 Test batter’s and bowler’s rankings, the cricket governing body said on Wednesday, after their recent heroics against the West Indies at home. 
Shakeel, Ali and spinner Sajid Khan were instrumental in Pakistan’s 127-run convincing victory against the West Indies in Multan last week. Noman grabbed six wickets in the Test match, including a fifer in the West Indies’ first innings that helped dismiss the Caribbean team before they could amass a sizable lead over Pakistan’s first innings total. 
Shakeel scored a heroic 84-run knock to steer Pakistan out of the woods in the first innings, helping the team reach 230 runs before they were dismissed. 
“Batter Saud Shakeel and bowler Noman Ali are Pakistan’s big movers in the newly updated ICC Men’s Test Rankings,” the ICC said in a report on its website. “Saud Shakeel (753 ratings points) scored 84 in the first innings, climbing three Rankings spots to 8th on the batting list, moving above Steve Smith (746, 9th) and Rishabh Pant (739, 10th).”
Ali, with 761 points to his credit, broke into the top 10 by securing the number nine position. India’s Jasprit Bumrah with 908 points and Australia’s Pat Cummins with 841 points occupy the first and second position, respectively. 
“Other notable movers include Pakistan’s Sajid Khan (621), who climbed 18 places to No. 23 after his standout performance in Pakistan’s victory in the first Test,” the ICC said. 
Pakistan, who lead 1-0 in the two-match Test series, will next face the West Indies in Multan for the second Test on Jan. 25. Both teams are placed at the bottom of the World Test Championship after successive losses to other teams. 
Pakistan are expected to head into the second Test with both Khan and Ali in the playing XI. The South Asian team have been making spin-friendly tracks in Multan and other venues across the country ahead of Test series to capitalize on its home conditions. 
Pakistan beat England 2-1 in a three-match Test series at home, capitalizing again on the spin-friendly tracks. However, the South Asian team lost to South Africa 2-0 in an away Test series this month.