Sara Ahmed (Arabic: ; born 1 January 1998) is an Egyptian weightlifter who won a bronze medal in the women's 69 kg event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and the silver medal in the women's 81kg event at the 2024 Summer Olympics. She won the gold medal in the women's 76kg event at the 2022 World Weightlifting Championships.

Originally from the Ismailia Governorate, Ahmed was encouraged to take part in weightlifting by her family and was competing internationally by 2012. At the senior level, she has earned gold medals at the Mediterranean and African Games, as well as the Arab Championships. In Rio de Janeiro, she became the first Arab woman to win an Olympic weightlifting medal and the first Egyptian woman to receive an Olympic medal on the podium in any discipline.

Early life Ahmed was born in the village of Al-Huaniya in Egypt's Ismailia Governorate. Her father (who died in 2015) and older brother were national competitors in weightlifting, which inspired her to take up the sport in 2010. Although her participation in the sport interfered with her studies somewhat, she received encouragement and support for her family and found success in local and regional tournaments, eventually earning a spot on the Egyptian national team.

Career Ahmed's international career began at the 2012 Junior African Championships in Tunis, where she won gold in the 63 kg division. She repeated that feat at the Youth edition, held in the same city, as well as the 2013 Youth World Championships in Tashkent. Her first senior-level competition was the 2013 Mediterranean Games, where she won the clean & jerk portion and was third in the snatch, leaving her second overall behind Turkey's Sibel Şimşek (Romela Begaj of Albania had the same total, but a higher body weight). She then bumped up to the 69 kg division and won that category at the 2014 African Youth and Junior Championships, then returned to 63 kg and earned gold at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics. She competed one last time in the 63 kg division at the 2014 World Championships in Almaty, where she placed 12th, and then returned to 69 kg and captured gold at the 2015 African Games and Youth and Junior World Championships; at the latter she was named the Best Female Lifter. She placed fourth at the 2015 World Championships in Houston and took home gold at that year's Arab Championships held in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Ahmed represented Egypt at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the women's 69 kg event, skipping her high school exams in order to compete. To prepare for the Games, she attended training camps in Uzbekistan, the United Arab Emirates, and Brazil. In Rio she won a bronze medal, lifting a combined weight of 255 kg. She thus became the first Arab woman to win an Olympic weightlifting medal and the first Egyptian woman to win an Olympic medal, although Abeer Abdelrahman retroactively received a silver medal from the women's 75 kg weightlifting event at the 2012 Summer Olympics, as all three medallists in that event tested positive for banned substances and she was upgraded from fifth to third after the Games. Ahmed was also the first Egyptian to win a weightlifting medal since 1948, with the caveat that Abdelrahman and Tarek Yehia retroactively received medals from the London Games. Later in the day, Mohamed Ihab joined her in this distinction by taking bronze in the men's 77 kg.

Upon her return, she was honoured in a ceremony held by Ismailia governor Yassin Taher, received congratulatory messages from Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, and was given 500,000 Egyptian pounds. Soon after receiving the medal, she declared her intention to train for gold at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Following her victory, she encouraged the Egyptian government to do more to support its athletes, including granting more leniency for athletes in terms of taking college-preparatory exams. She has no special nutritional routine and is coached by the national team's Khaled Korany.

Ahmed won gold in both portions of the 69 kg division at the 2018 Mediterranean Games. The following month, at the 2018 Junior World Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, she won all three categories of the 69 kg tournament. At the senior edition that year, she was third in the snatch and second in the clean and jerk, which placed her second overall in the 71 kg division. As of 2016 she was engaged to another Egyptian Olympic weightlifter, Ragab Abdelhay.

In 2018, Ahmed won gold at the World Junior Championships in the 69 kg. division, silver in the 71 kg. category at the senior World Championships, and gold in the 69 kg. event at the Mediterranean Games. She won the 76 kg. division at the 2019 African Weightlifting Championships and the African Games, but had her results stripped from the latter and was banned from competition for two years following violations of anti-doping regulations.

After her ban ended, Ahmed won gold in the 76 kg. category at the World Championships and the 81 kg. event at the African Weightlifting Championships in 2022. She defended both of these titles in 2023. She was also African Champion in 2024 and runner-up in the 81 kg. division at the year's World Championships. Ahmed was the official flag bearer of her country at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, along with athlete Ahmed El-Gendy. In August 2024, she competed in the women's 81kg event.She finished second with a total of 268 kg and won a silver medal.

Major results YearVenueWeight Snatch (kg) Clean & jerk (kg) Total Rank123Rank123RankOlympic Games2016 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 69 kg 1071101121351401432552024 Paris, France 81 kg 113 117 119 146 151 155 268 World Championships2014 Almaty, Kazakhstan 63 kg 1001041041312012512912229122015 Houston, United States 69 kg 1051101126135138138524552017 Anaheim, United States 69 kg 102102104—126132136——2018 Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 71 kg 105 110 111 136 141 — 252 2022 Bogotá, Colombia 76 kg 109 113 116 138 143 148 261 2023 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia76 kg108 — — 138 — — 246 2024 Manama, Bahrain81 kg113 117 117 4 145 149 153 262 2025 Førde, Norway77 kg110 112 115 140 147 150 252 African Games2015 Brazzaville, Congo 69 kg 95102105126132136234 2019 Rabat, Morocco 76 kg 105 111 115 — 133 141 — — DSQ — 2024 Accra, Ghana 81 kg 100 — — 131 140 — 240 African Championships 2019 Cairo, Egypt 76 kg 105 109 112 135 141 145 257 2022 Cairo, Egypt 81 kg 110 116 — 140 145 — 261 2023 Tunis, Tunisia 81 kg 110 114 117 140 146 151 268 2024 Ismailia, Egypt 81 kg 105 110 113 131 140 — 253 Mediterranean Games2013 Mersin, Turkey 63 kg 92981001121201242162018 Tarragona, Spain 69 kg 100105107127135—240World Junior Championships2015 Wrocław, Poland 69 kg 1021051061251281302322018 Tashkent, Uzbekistan 69 kg 100105107125133137238Youth Olympic Games2014 Nanjing, China 63 kg 97103103118125129228World Youth Championships2013 Tashkent, Uzbekistan 63 kg 92971011131201242212015 Lima, Peru 69 kg 100103108125130133236

See also Muslim women in sport

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