DUBAI: Arab athletes have departed Tokyo 2020 with the highest yield of medals in the history of their participation, winning five gold, five silver and eight bronze.
The previous combined best by Arab nations was eight at the 2004 Athens Olympics, with four gold, two silver and two bronze medals.
In Japan, Qatar was the only one of the Arab delegation to win two gold medals, while Egypt’s total of six was the highest with one gold, one silver and four bronze.
The penultimate day of Tokyo 2020 proved particularly fruitful for the region with Feryal Abdelaziz of Egypt winning a gold in the women’s karate competition; Tarek Hamdi of Saudi a silver in the men’s karate; Bahrain’s Kalkidan Gezahegne a silver in the women’s 10,000m; Egypt’s Ahmed Elgendy a silver in the men’s modern pentathlon; and Qataris Cherif Samba and Ahmed Tijan a bronze in the men’s beach volleyball competition.
The previous day had seen Egypt’s Giana Lotfy win bronze despite losing her women’s kumite -61kg class semifinal. Abdul Rahman Al-Masatfa has similarly claimed bronze after being eliminated in his last four bouts in the men’s karate kumite 67kg competition.
Egypt leads Arab nations in the all-time gold medal table with eight, with Morocco coming next with seven.
