* f i g --: Egyptian Aerobic gymnasts show continental control at African Championships: With multiple gold medals apiece, Mai Elsayed, Khaled Ahmed and Omar Elmraghy led an Egyptian sweep of the titles in Aerobic Gymnastics at the 15th African Championships on 12-16 March in Sharm El Sheikh (EGY).
The continent-wide competition, which drew athletes from a dozen African nations to the Egyptian resort city, was held as concerns about COVID-19 swept across the globe. Heeding precautions about large group gatherings, organisers shortened the Aerobic competition to take place within a single day, and the host nation seized it.
Scoring 19.600 points and 18.150 points respectively, Elmraghy and Ahmed went 1-2 in the Individual Men’s competition, and each picked up another two titles in company with their teammates. Ahmed paired with Elsayed to win the Mixed Pairs title with 18.950, 0.3 ahead of Elmraghy and Individual Women’s champion Toka Elbashary. Elsayed, Ahmed and Ahmed Askar topped the standings in the Trio category, ahead of Elmraghy, Elbashary and Seif Soliman, 18.660 to 18.380.
Egypt additionally coasted to the team title, giving Ahmed, Elmraghy, Askar and Elsayed an additional gold. In the face of Egyptian domination, gymnasts from Benin led by Dieudonne Kitty picked up four medals. Kitty had a hand in all four: After securing bronze in the Individual Men’s competition, he paired with Alexandrine Gninou for another bronze in Mixed Pairs, then added a third in Trio with Amdivie Kouhounha and Rodrigue Ahissou. The team of Kitty, Gninou, Kouhounha and Ahissou also accounted for the team silver. With a silver of her own in the Individual Women’s event, Demi Botha provided South Africa with its lone Aerobic medal of the championships, her 18.250 a mere 0.25 shy of Elbashary.