Wikitree Olympics Project

Olympics-Team Egypt

Background

Egypt’s first appearance at the Olympics is a matter of debate. Demetrius Casdagli, who won silver medals in the singles and doubles tennis events at the 1896 Games, lived and trained in Egypt, although the Official Report lists him as Greek based on his heritage and, as he was born in England, research has only been able to confirm his British citizenship. At the 1906 Games, Arthur Pitt-Marson and Eugène Colombani are listed as having competed for Egypt, as they represented clubs based in Cairo, but neither would be considered “Egyptian” by modern standards. The 1912 Official Report lists Ahmed Mohamed Hassanein as having represented Egypt in the individual foil and epée fencing events, but the Official Report makes no distinction between entrants and participants, and no evidence has been produced that proves that Hassanein actually competed. The Egyptian Olympic Committee, however, which was formed in 1910, considers him their first Olympian. The nation was well represented at the 1920 Games and, since then, they have been absent only from the Olympics of 1932, 1956 (missing Melbourne, but not Stockholm), 1976, and 1980. Egypt’s absence from the 1932 Olympics was the result of political turmoil that resulted in the NOC being disbanded in 1929, but it was re-established in time for a large team (53 athletes) to be sent to the Berlin Olympics in 1936.

From 1960 through 1968, Egypt competed as the United Arab Republic (UAR), having formed a union with Syria in 1958, although Syria left the union in 1961. In addition, in 1960, all the athletes who actually competed are believed to have been Egyptian. Although Syrian officials have listed from 1 to 3 Syrian athletes as part of the UAR team in 1960, none appears to have competed.

Egypt officially also boycotted the Olympic Games of 1956, 1976, and 1980, making it one of three nations to have boycotted three Olympics, along with Ethiopia and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North). Several Egyptians, however, including their basketball team, competed in preliminary rounds prior to the nation’s withdrawal from the 1976 Games due to the African boycott. ^[1]

This is an ongoing project to ensure that all Olympians who represented Egypt are on Wikitree.

• Connected to their family
• Connected to the Global Tree, if possible
• With profiles that have biographical, family, and sporting information
• Well sourced

Olympians Representing Egypt on Wikitree

This category Olympians representing Egypt shows all Olympians who have been identified and are now on Wikitree.

Note: Only Wikitree profiles with the category [[Category:Olympians Representing Egypt]] will appear.

Process

1. Identify existing Wikitree profile or add new profile
2. Add specific categories

• [[Category:Olympians Representing Egypt]]
• Category for the Olympic games in which they represented Egypt. e.g. "[[Category: 1920 Olympic Summer Games]] "
• If they won medals - [[Category:Olympic Gold Medalists]] , [[Category: Olympic Silver Medalists]] , [[Category: Olympic Bronze Medalists]]

3. Add Olympic Movement Sticker and add text for sport and specific Olympic Games. e.g. represented Egypt in Athletics in the Antwerps Olympics of 1920.
4, Add biography, family, and sporting information
5. Connect to family and any spouse
6. If possible, connect to the Global Tree. This may require adding additional profiles.

Stickers

... represented Egypt in Athletics in the Antwerps Olympics of 1920.

• Code for the Olympic Movement sticker
  
• {{Occupation |image=Olympic_Movement.png |text=Add text.}}
• Add text for sport and specific Olympic Games. e.g. represented Egypt in Athletics in the Antwerps Olympics of 1920.

Note: The sticker does not display the name in preview mode . "..." will appear. The name will show once the profile is saved.