Top Honours go to Egypt In Men’s Artistic Competition At 17th African Artistic Gymnastics Championships
Tshwane, South Africa - 27 May 2023: The 17th African Artistic Gymnastics Championships culminated tonight at Heartfelt Arena in Tshwane amid excitement. The two-day competition featured the continent’s top gymnasts in a fiercely contested event.
Tonight was the chance for the men to compete. The team competition, which carried the added bonus of automatic qualifying for the World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, later this year for the winners, was fought out between powerhouses Egypt, who won all but five gold medals in total at last year’s event in their
home country, Algeria, Morocco and a three-man South African team comprising Muhammad-Khaalid Mia, Aidan Maguire and Ruan Lange, who have all been training consistently together at various venues.
In the end, it was the team from Egypt who reigned supreme on the night, beating off challenges from Algeria and Morocco to book their place in Antwerp. The Egyptians were in a class of their own, winning the team competition by over 11 points, as they dominated throughout and had a very clean competition.
The individual all-around event was dominated by the class gymnast in the field, Omar Mohamed, the all-around silver medalist from 2022, who avenged his second-place finish in Egypt last year to his teammate Mohamed Afify by beating his compatriot by over three points, while Algeria’s Hillal Metidji took bronze.
Gymnastics South Africa President, Donny Jurgens, expressed his delight at the standard of competition and especially at the terrific support that the event received over the two days.
“It was an honour to host this competition and the spirit shown by all competitors, even the less traditional gymnastics nations who sent athletes to compete, was a joy to behold. We congratulate all winners and wish all teams, officials and delegates from other countries safe onward travels until we meet again”, said Jurgens.
Tshwane, South Africa - 27 May 2023: The 17th African Artistic Gymnastics Championships culminated tonight at Heartfelt Arena in Tshwane amid excitement. The two-day competition featured the continent’s top gymnasts in a fiercely contested event.
Tonight was the chance for the men to compete. The team competition, which carried the added bonus of automatic qualifying for the World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, later this year for the winners, was fought out between powerhouses Egypt, who won all but five gold medals in total at last year’s event in their
home country, Algeria, Morocco and a three-man South African team comprising Muhammad-Khaalid Mia, Aidan Maguire and Ruan Lange, who have all been training consistently together at various venues.
In the end, it was the team from Egypt who reigned supreme on the night, beating off challenges from Algeria and Morocco to book their place in Antwerp. The Egyptians were in a class of their own, winning the team competition by over 11 points, as they dominated throughout and had a very clean competition.
The individual all-around event was dominated by the class gymnast in the field, Omar Mohamed, the all-around silver medalist from 2022, who avenged his second-place finish in Egypt last year to his teammate Mohamed Afify by beating his compatriot by over three points, while Algeria’s Hillal Metidji took bronze.
Gymnastics South Africa President, Donny Jurgens, expressed his delight at the standard of competition and especially at the terrific support that the event received over the two days.
“It was an honour to host this competition and the spirit shown by all competitors, even the less traditional gymnastics nations who sent athletes to compete, was a joy to behold. We congratulate all winners and wish all teams, officials and delegates from other countries safe onward travels until we meet again”, said Jurgens.
