Omar Ahmed El Ghazaly

Omar Ahmed El Ghazaly

Personal information
Born	(1984-02-09) February 9, 1984 (age 40)
Height	1.99 m (6 ft 6+1⁄2 in)
Weight	125 kg (276 lb)
Sport
Country	Egypt
Sport	Athletics
Event	Discus
Updated on 12 August 2012

Omar Ahmed El Ghazaly (born 9 February 1984 in Cairo) is an Egyptian discus thrower.

He originally played handball, while his siblings were on the Egyptian national swimming team.^[1]

In 1999 he was recruited by former African shot put champion Nagui Asaad, who was setting up a throwing school that also included hammer thrower Mohsen El Anany and shot putter Yasser Fathy. After having a try with the different implements, he settled for the discus and rapidly made his debut in the national team.^[2] In 2000, aged 16, he was selected for the Egyptian team for the World Junior Championships, where he finished in 17th.^[1] That year he also won the Arab Championships with a throw of 53.07 m.^[1] At the 2002 World Junior Championships, a poor result of 10th was due to a shoulder injury.^[1] In 2003, his final year as a junior, he set a new junior world record of 65.88.^[1]

His personal best throw is 66.58 metres, achieved in June 2007 in Helsingborg. This is the current national record.^[3] In 2007, he also became the first Egyptian athlete to reach the final of an event at the Athletics World Championships.^[1]

His 2008 season did not go as well due to a series of injuries.^[1]

In June 2009, El Ghazaly gave a strong showing at a meeting in Sollentuna, Sweden, registering a number of throws over 65 metres and winning with 66.34 m. This was an African season's best throw and highlighted him as a possible finalist for the 2009 World Championships in Athletics.^[4] He again reached the final, but could only achieve 9th place.

His 2010 season was again marred by injury.^[1]

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  Egypt
2000	World Junior Championships	Santiago, Chile	17th (q)	Discus	50.43 m
2001	World Youth Championships	Debrecen, Hungary	3rd	Discus throw (1.5 kg)	61.06 m
	African Junior Championships	Réduit, Mauritius	2nd	Discus throw (1.75 kg)	49.79 m
2002	World Junior Championships	Kingston, Jamaica	10th	Discus throw (1.75 kg)	58.20 m
	African Championships	Radès, Tunisia	3rd	Discus throw	48.17 m
2003	African Junior Championships	Garoua, Cameroon	1st	Discus throw (1.75 kg)	61.87 m
	Universiade	Daegu, South Korea	9th	Discus throw	55.15 m
	All-Africa Games	Abuja, Nigeria	1st	Discus throw	63.61 m
	Afro-Asian Games	Hyderabad, India	3rd	Discus throw	59.77 m
2004	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	33rd (q)	Discus throw	55.53 m
	Pan Arab Games	Algiers, Algeria	1st	Discus throw	61.06 m
2005	Islamic Solidarity Games	Mecca, Saudi Arabia	1st	Discus throw	59.89 m
	Universiade	İzmir, Turkey	2nd	Discus throw	62.28 m
2006	African Championships	Bambous, Mauritius	1st	Discus throw	61.11 m
	World Cup	Athens, Greece	4th	Discus throw	61.50 m
2007	All-Africa Games	Algiers, Algeria	1st	Discus throw	62.28 m
	Universiade	Bangkok, Thailand	2nd	Discus throw	60.89 m
	World Championships	Osaka, Japan	6th	Discus throw	64.58 m
2008	Olympic Games	Beijing, China	23rd (q)	Discus throw	60.24 m
2009	World Championships	Berlin, Germany	9th	Discus throw	62.83 m
	Jeux de la Francophonie	Beirut, Lebanon	1st	Discus throw	61.01 m
2010	African Championships	Nairobi, Kenya	1st	Discus throw	59.30 m