Al-Sayd Rifa’i

Al-Sayd Rifa’i first represented Egypt internationally as a wrestler in the early 1950s, but it took until the end of the decade for him to reach the peak of his career. A welterweight, he could not take part in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, as Egypt boycotted the Games, but he did take part in the World Championships the following year, albeit without reaching the podium. He had his greatest moment at the 1959 Mediterranean Games (with Egypt competing officially as the United Arab Republic), where he won the silver medal in the freestyle competition, behind Turkey’s Mahmut Atalay. His next stop was the 1960 Rome Olympics, where he was eliminated in round three of the Greco-Roman event. Near the end of his career, he switched to the middleweight division and won gold at the 1961 Arab Games, before retiring.