FOR THE FIRST time since 1948, strains of the Egyptian anthem filled the air at the Olympics medal ceremony. As wrestling champ Karam Gaber Ibrahim proudly received his gold medal, millions of cheering viewers back home shared in his exuberance, many moved to tears by his poignant announcement: “I dedicate [the medal] to my country, my family and all the Arab nations. I tried very hard and here I am now, an Olympic champion.”

Arab fans avidly followed Gaber’s short and very sweet rise to the top. In one minute, nine seconds he floored Turkish opponent Mehmet Ozal in the semifinal. The final, which pitted the 25-year-old Gaber against Georgian Ramaz Nozadze, was just as breathtaking. Karam threw Nozadze three times in just over three minutes to win 12-2.

To encourage Olympic players, the Ministry of Youth promised tempting financial rewards; Gaber collected a cool LE 1 million upon his arrival.

Today Gaber, along with fellow medallists Mohamed Aly Reda (silver, boxing) Mohamed El-Baz, Ahmed Ismail (both bronze, boxing) and Tamer Salah (bronze, tae kwon do) are Egypt’s modern heroes. Images of their overjoyed faces appear on almost every street of the city.

Egypt’s super-heavyweight boxer, Reda, was forced to abandon his hopes for a gold medal when he had to withdraw because of a shoulder injury. The 98 kg boxer surprised and upset many in the semifinals, when he beat Cuban Michel Lopez 18-16 after a rather slow-paced contest. Reda came home to a hero’s welcome and received LE 750,000 from the government.

At the start of the games sports commentators voiced one opinion in unison: our contenders would stand no chance against the world’s best boxers. They judged them to be losers before El-Baz and Ismail even had their first fights. Against all predictions and expectations, both athletes managed to secure a bronze, setting a new record in boxing for Egypt since its last victory in 1960.

Unfortunately, El-Baz’s shoulder injury prevented him from competing in the semi-finals, and 81 kg Ismail also missed his chance. Fighting Greece’s Elias Pavlidis, Ismail was forced to flee the ring in a torrent of boos and water bottles when the referee ended the game in the third round because of cuts on Pavlidis’ face.

By doing so, the referee prevented match-leading Pavlidis from becoming the first Greek boxer to win an Olympic medal. Later, the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) rejected Greece’s protest. Ismail, the 2003 African Champion, was later defeated 18-16 in the semifinals by Aripgadjiev Magomed of Belarus.

Tamer Salah brought home another unexpected medal. In the men’s tae kwon do under-58kg quarterfinals, Salah beat Michalis Mouroutsos of Greece 8-2. However, in the semifinals, Salah lost 5-4 to Taiwan’s Mu Yen Chu. He later battled it out with Juan Ramos of Spain, winning 7-1 to take a bronze.

The three bronze medallists each got LE 500,000 from the Ministry. In all, Egypt took part in 12 sports in this year’s games: weight lifting, wrestling, handball, hockey, athletics, swimming, synchronized swimming, water polo, judo, boxing, tae kwon do, and modern pentathlon (rowing, shooting, equestrian, fencing and archery).

Many sports fans and commentators now believe that the Ministry’s incentive may have played a major role in Egypt’s success at the Athens Olympics.  et