Legend Sherif Osman eyes redemption at home

Written by

admin

in

Egyptian powerlifting great Sherif Osman marked his 43rd birthday on 15 September in the midst of preparations for the Cairo 2025 World Para Powerlifting Championships. 

The five-time world champion will take centre stage on 13 October in the men’s up to 65kg category – the category in which he has missed the podium at the past two major competitions.

 

This time, however, Osman is determined to rewrite the script. Cairo 2025 will not only be his chance to compete on home soil, but also the first World Championships ever to be staged in Africa. The Egyptian capital will host the Rookie & Next Gen event on 9 and 10 October, followed by the Elite World Championships from 11 to 18 October.

For Osman, Cairo 2025 will be his eighth World Championships appearance. Five of his previous seven campaigns ended with gold, with only his debut in Kuala Lumpur 2010 and his most recent outing in Dubai 2023 finishing without a medal.

Injuries halt an era of dominance

While 2010 was part of his learning curve, the disappointment of Dubai was harder to bear: an injury, which had troubled him for three years, ultimately derailed his medal hopes and hampered his build-up to the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

“Now I’m starting to increase my numbers (of kilograms lifted), but time is the biggest problem that all people face,” Osman reflected after placing seventh in the men’s up to 65kg at Paris 2024.

His dip in form began at the Cairo 2022 African Open Championships, where he finished fourth in the men’s up to 59kg class. Compatriot Mohamed Elmenyawy claimed gold that day and went on to claim the bronze at Dubai 2023 and then a Paralympic title in Paris. Osman, meanwhile, finished 10th in Dubai before moving up to the 65kg division for Paris 2024.

 

Now fit and focused, Osman is relishing the chance of contesting another major championship on home ground. When injury-free, he has long been regarded as one of the dominant forces in Para powerlifting.

From meteoric rise to enduring legacy

Over the past two decades, the athlete from Beni Mazar has amassed an extraordinary record: four Paralympic medals – three golds and one silver – alongside five world titles.

His rise has been meteoric. Just two years after taking up Para powerlifting, Osman struck gold at the Beijing 2008 Paralympics in the men’s up to 56kg class.

“I love my sport because my sport has changed my life,” he said in the build-up to Paris 2024. “Now my career is 18 years long. I started in 2006. I have taken part in four Paralympic Games and the aim of sport is not about winning. This sport I love, powerlifting, is about competing – and I will keep competing.”

Osman’s golden era began at London 2012 and stretched to Tokyo 2020, a nine-year spell in which he became the undisputed powerhouse of the men’s up to 59kg division. During that time he captured three world titles and two further Paralympic golds, while also competing at lower categories in London 2012 (56kg) and the Dubai 2014 Worlds (54kg).

Chasing records, chasing history

He also etched his name into the record books. At Dubai 2014 he lifted 205kg in the men’s up to 54kg – a world record that still stands. Two years later, at Rio 2016, he raised the bar again with 211kg in the men’s up to 59kg, another record yet to be surpassed.

Only two other Para powerlifters currently hold active world records in multiple categories: China’s Lingling Guo (women’s up to 41kg and 45kg) and Jordan’s Abdelkareem Khattab (men’s up to 88kg and 97kg), both Paralympic champions at Paris 2024.

Osman’s dominance was finally broken at Tokyo 2020, where he aimed for a fourth consecutive Paralympic crown but lost out to China’s Yongkai Qi. Both lifted 187kg, but Qi took the title on lighter body weight by just 0.66kg.

 

“That time in Tokyo I felt that I had more power and higher numbers in me, but I couldn’t do it because two months before the Games I had got injured,” Osman later reflected.

Despite the setback, he ended 2021 on a high, securing gold at the Tbilisi 2021 WPPO Championships – his most recent major title.

As Cairo 2025 approaches, Osman insists that his ambitions are far from over. Rather than a swansong, he perceives the home World Championships as the launchpad for another Paralympic cycle.

“I will be back. Los Angeles (2028) is waiting for me,” he declared.

Beyond his own career, Osman is already preparing for life after competition. He serves as Chair of the WPPO Athletes’ Committee, elected multiple times by his peers, and envisions a future in coaching – guiding the next generation of lifters with the same passion that has defined his extraordinary journey.
 


Continue Reading

More posts