RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – AUGUST 10: Sara Ahmed of Egypt celebrates after lifting during the Women’s 69kg Group A weightlifting contest on Day 5 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Riocentro – Pavilion 2 on August 10, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Sarah Ahmed won two gold medals in the women’s 69 kg snatch and clean & jerk events at the 2018 Mediterranean Games in Tarragona, Spain.
Less than two years after winning Egypt’s first weightlifting medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Sara Ahmed won two gold medals at the Mediterranean Games. In her first event, the snatch, Sara was able to jump into the first place on her first try after lifting 100 kg. However, she challenged herself on her second try and successfully attempted to lift 105 kg, pushing her into first place with an 8 kg difference from second place. Although she had all but confirmed her gold medal, the 20-year-old attempted to lift 107 kg but was unable to do so. In second and third place came the Italians Giorgia Bordignon and Milena Gianelli respectively.
Similar to the snatch event, Sara jumped into first place after her first try in the clean & jerk, lifting 127 kg with a 12 kg difference between her and the participant in second place. Though the gap was large, Sara successfully completed her second try of 135 kg and decided to not complete her third try after she had secured her gold medal.
Sara is Egypt’s third weightlifter to earn a sweep of gold medals with Ahmed Saad and Mohamed Mahmoud completing the sweeps in the men’s 62 kg and 77 kg events respectively. Her achievement also makes her the fifth Egyptian to earn multiple medals in Tarrragona joined by her fellow double gold medalist weightlifters and swimmers Farida Osman and Marwan Elkamash.
