A former basketball player, along with his father and brother, Elsissy used his skills from the court to help him once he pursued fencing. In fact, he practiced many sports before settling on a career with a weapon in hand – his mother signed him up for gymnastics, swimming, and even squash, before he realised that fencing was the path for him.
“I was always trying to find an excuse to get out to get back to basketball,” he admits. “When I started fencing, I saw how much of an impact it [had] to help me perform better in basketball. Getting me faster, higher jumps, and everything. I started falling in love with the sport and that’s how I continued in fencing.”
Having learned to adapt from one discipline to another, the sabre fencer now coaches young athletes in New York.
He says, “I love when my students, before I leave for a tournament, say, ‘Coach Ziad, good luck. You’re going to get this. We’re going to be rooting for you.’ So it’s not only me watching them in tournaments. They watch me, too.
“Every time I feel a little down, I remember I want to show them that you’re still fighting, that you can always make it work, so it just gives me a boost to fight more.”
The feeling is mutual – many of the Egyptian’s prodigies flew out to Paris to support their teacher on the Olympic stage.
Egypt’s Ziad Elsissy and Nouran Gohar aim for LA28 fairytale
Elsissy’s comeback from his fencing break post-Paris has been so far successful. He finished third on his FIE World Cup return in June, reaching the podium for the second consecutive year in Padua, Italy.
The Alexandrian followed that up with a continental gold at the African Championships Lagos 2025, taking the men’s team sabre title along with fellow Egypt Olympians Adham Moataz and Mohamed Amer.
Aiming for a third Olympic Games at LA 2028, Elsissy wants to qualify alongside his wife, Gohar. She has extra motivation as a squash star back home, with the racket sport one of five new events being added to the LA28 programme.