Egypt competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Since the nation's debut in 1912, Egyptian athletes had appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games except the 1932 and 1980 editions, joining the United States-led boycott in the latter.
The Egyptian Olympic Committee sent its largest ever delegation to the Games, with a total of 120 athletes, 83 men and 37 women, competing across 22 sports. The Egyptian roster also witnessed more women participating at the Games than those who attended in London four years earlier, breaking its previous record by just a small fraction.
Egypt returned home from Rio de Janeiro with three bronze medals. Moreover, these Games marked the first time Egyptian women ascended the Olympic podium in the nation's 104-year history. These medals were distributed to taekwondo fighter Hedaya Malak (women's 57 kg), as well as weightlifters Mohamed Ihab and former Youth Olympian Sara Samir, who accomplished a historic feat as the first Arab woman to accept an Olympic medal in her sport.
In addition to the success and historic firsts of the bronze medalists, several Egyptian athletes reached the finals of their respective events, but narrowly missed out on the podium. Among them were shooting team Afaf El-Hodhod (fifth, women's air pistol), freestyle wrestler Enas Mostafa (fifth, women's 69 kg), and three others in weightlifting, namely Shaimaa Khalaf (fourth, women's +75 kg), Ahmed Saad (fifth, men's 62 kg), and Ragab Abdelhay (fifth, men's 94 kg).
Medalists
The following Egyptian athletes won medals at the Games. In the discipline sections below, medalists' names are bolded.
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Medal Name Sport Event Date Mohamed Ihab Weightlifting Men's 77 kg Sara Samir Weightlifting Women's 69 kg Hedaya Malak Taekwondo Women's 57 kg | style="text-align:left; width:22%; vertical-align:top;"|
Medals by sportSport TotalWeightlifting 0 0 2 2Taekwondo 0 0 1 1Total 0 0 3 3
Competitors The Egyptian Olympic Committee (EOC) confirmed a roster of 120 athletes, 83 men and 37 women, to compete across 22 sports at the Games. It was the nation's largest ever delegation sent to the Olympics, breaking its previous record of 110 athletes set in 2012. These Games also witnessed more Egyptian women participating than those who attended in London four years earlier, constituting about 30 percent of the overall squad.
Handball and volleyball (both played exclusively by men) were the only collective sports in which Egypt qualified for the Games, having both returned to the Olympic scene after their absence from London 2012. Egypt's women's synchronized swimming and women's table tennis teams, however, participated for their third-straight and second-straight Games, respectively. For individual-based sports, Egypt marked its Olympic debut in women's beach volleyball, as well as its return to cycling after 16 years and diving after 32 years. Shooting accounted for the largest number of athletes on the Egyptian team, with 12 entries. There was a single competitor each in track cycling, equestrian jumping, artistic gymnastics, and sailing.
Of the 120 participants, twenty-eight of them returned to compete again, with the rest of the field attending their maiden Games in Rio de Janeiro. Among the returnees were foil fencer Alaaeldin Abouelkassem, who became the first from an African nation to win an Olympic medal in his sport; and heavyweight judoka Islam El Shehaby, who headed the roster as the lone Egyptian competitor going to his fourth straight Games. Eight Egyptian athletes competed at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing before their senior Olympic debut, including weightlifter Sara Samir, modern pentathlete Haydy Morsy, distance swimmer Ahmed Akram, and shooters Afaf El-Hodhod (pistol) and Hadir Mekhimar (rifle).
Other notable athletes on the Egyptian roster featured modern pentathlon veteran Amro El-Geziry and his younger brother Omar, world-ranked taekwondo fighter Hedaya Malak, American-born swimming sprinter Farida Osman, and 2014 world bronze medalist Azmy Mehelba in men's skeet shooting. 16-year-old Morsy was Egypt's youngest competitor, with volleyball team captain Ashraf Abouelhassan rounding out the field as the oldest member (aged 41). Handball star and three-time Olympian Ahmed El-Ahmar was selected by EOC to lead the Egyptian squad as the flag bearer in the opening ceremony.
| width=78% align=left valign=top | The following is the list of number of competitors participating in the Games. Note that reserves in fencing, field hockey, football, and handball are not counted as athletes: SportMenWomenTotalArchery 1 1 2Athletics 3 1 4Boxing 4 0 4Canoeing 1 1 2Cycling 0 1 1Diving 2 2 4Equestrian 1 0 1Fencing 5 2 7Gymnastics 0 1 1Handball 14 0 14Judo 5 0 5Modern pentathlon 2 1 3Rowing 1 1 2Sailing 1 0 1Shooting 9 3 12Swimming 5 2 7Synchronized swimming — 9 9Table tennis 2 3 5Taekwondo 1 2 3Volleyball 12 2 14Weightlifting 6 3 9Wrestling 8 2 10Total 83 37 120
Archery
Two Egyptian archers qualified each for both the men's and women's individual recurve by obtaining one of the three Olympic places available from the 2016 African Archery Championships in Windhoek, Namibia.
AthleteEventRanking roundRound of 64Round of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal / ScoreSeedOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankAhmed El-NemrMen's individual64451L 0–6Did not advanceReem MansourWomen's individual59656L 0–6Did not advance
Athletics (track and field)
Egyptian athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event):
Track & road events AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinalResultRankResultRankResultRankAnas BeshrMen's 400 mDid not advanceHamada MohamedMen's 800 m1:46.654 q1:48.178Did not advanceFatma El-ShernoubiWomen's 800 m2:21.248Did not advance
Field events AthleteEventQualificationFinalDistancePositionDistancePositionMohamed Mahmoud HassanMen's hammer throw69.8726Did not advance
Boxing
Egypt entered four boxers to compete in the following weight classes in the Olympic boxing tournament. Hosam Abdin was the only Egyptian boxer qualifying through the 2015 World Championships, while three further boxers (Abdelaal, Mohamed, and Salah) had claimed their Olympic spots at the 2016 African Qualification Tournament in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
AthleteEventRound of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankMahmoud AbdelaalMen's lightweightL 0–3Did not advanceWalid Sedik MohamedMen's welterweightL 0–3Did not advanceHosam AbdinMen's middleweightW 3–0W 3–0L 0–3Did not advanceAbdelrahman SalahMen's light heavyweightL 1–2Did not advance
Canoeing
Sprint Egypt qualified two boats for the following distances into the Olympic canoeing regatta through the 2016 African Sprint Qualifying Tournament.
AthleteEventHeatsSemifinalsFinalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankKarim ElsayedMen's K-1 200 m37.2947Did not advanceMenatalla KarimWomen's K-1 200 m49.5967Did not advance Qualification Legend: FA = Qualify to final (medal); FB = Qualify to final B (non-medal)
Cycling
Track Following the completion of the 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, Egypt entered one rider to compete only in the women's sprint at the Olympics for the first time, by virtue of her final individual UCI Olympic ranking in that event. This signified the nation's Olympic comeback to the sport of cycling for the first time since 2000, and to track cycling since 1924.
Sprint AthleteEventQualificationRound 1Repechage 1Round 2Repechage 2QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalTimeSpeed (km/h)RankOppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)RankEbtissam ZayedWomen's sprint12.92055.72727Did not advance
Diving
Egyptian divers qualified for the following individual spots at the 2016 Olympic Games by virtue of their top national finish from Africa at the 2015 FINA World Championships.
AthleteEventPreliminariesSemifinalsFinalPointsRankPointsRankPointsRankYoussef EzzatMen's 3 m springboard360.9525Did not advanceMohab El-KordyMen's 10 m platform305.5028Did not advanceMaha AmerWomen's 3 m springboard238.5528Did not advanceMaha GoudaWomen's 10 m platform276.1524Did not advance
Equestrian
Egypt entered one jumping rider into the Olympic equestrian competition by virtue of a top four finish outside the group selection in the individual FEI Olympic Rankings.
Jumping AthleteHorseEventQualificationFinalTotalRound 1Round 2Round 3Round ARound BPenaltiesRankPenaltiesTotalRankPenaltiesTotalRankPenaltiesRankPenaltiesTotalRankPenaltiesRankKarim El-ZoghbyAmeliaIndividual0=1 Q99=42 Q918=40Did not advance
Fencing
Egyptian fencers have qualified a full squad each in the men's team foil by virtue of being the highest ranking team from Africa outside the world's top four in the FIE Olympic Team Rankings. Meanwhile, Mohamed Amer (men's sabre) and Noura Mohamed (women's foil) had claimed their Olympic spots on the Egyptian team as one of the two highest-ranked fencers from Africa outside the world's top 14 in the FIE Adjusted Official Rankings. Nada Hafez (women's sabre) and London 2012 épée fencer Ayman Fayez rounded out the roster by virtue of their top finish respectively at the African Zonal Qualifier in Algiers, Algeria.
Men AthleteEventRound of 64Round of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalSemifinalFinal / OppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankAyman FayezÉpéeW 15–5L 9–15Did not advanceAlaaeldin AbouelkassemFoilW 15–8L 13–15Did not advanceTarek AyadL 8–15Did not advanceMohamed EssamW 15–8L 7–15Did not advanceAlaaeldin AbouelkassemTarek AyadMohamed EssamTeam foilcolspan=3 L 37–45Classification semifinalL 43–457th place finalW 45–397Mohamed AmerSabreL 9–15Did not advance
Women AthleteEventRound of 64Round of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalSemifinalFinal / OppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankNoura MohamedFoilL 4–15Did not advanceNada HafezSabreL 11–15Did not advance
Gymnastics
Artistic Egypt entered one artistic gymnast in the Olympic competition. London 2012 Olympian Sherine El-Zeiny received a spare berth freed up by South Africa as one of the highest-ranked gymnasts from Africa in the women's apparatus and all-around events, respectively, at the Olympic Test Event in Rio de Janeiro.
Women AthleteEventQualificationFinalApparatusTotalRankApparatusTotalRankSherine El-ZeinyFloorcolspan=3 12.53312.53369Did not advance
Handball
Summary
TeamEventGroup StageQuarterfinalSemifinalFinal / OppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankEgypt men'sMen's tournamentL 26–27W 26–25L 25–33D 27–27L 25–315Did not advance9
Men's tournament
Egypt men's handball team qualified for the Olympics by attaining a top finish and securing a lone outright berth at the 2016 African Championships in Cairo.
Team roster
Group play
Judo
Egypt has qualified a total of five judokas for each of the following weight classes at the Games. Mohamed Mohy Eldin, Mohamed Abdelaal, Ramadan Darwish, and three-time Olympian Islam El Shehaby were ranked among the top 22 eligible judokas for men in the IJF World Ranking List of 30 May 2016, while Ahmed Abdelrahman at men's extra-lightweight (60 kg) earned a continental quota spot from the African region, as the highest-ranked Egyptian judoka outside of direct qualifying position.