Nahla Ramadan

Nahla Ramadan Mohamed (Arabic: نَهْلَة رَمَضَان مُحَمَّد; born 4 April 1985 in Alexandria, Egypt) is an Egyptian weightlifter and the pioneer of weightlifting in Egypt, Africa and the Arab world. She competed for Egypt at the 2004 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Olympics. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, competing in the heavyweight division, she did not finish the competition, being unable to register a lift in the clean and jerk.

However, four years later, in 2016, samples taken at London 2012 from the Armenian bronze medalist Hripsime Khurshudyan were tested positive for prohibited substances. Therefore, Ramadan, who initially placed fifth, came in fourth place.

Ramadan won three gold medals in the 2003 World Weightlifting Championships – Women's 75 kg, when the Chinese weightlifting champion Shang Shichun was stripped of her medals as she was tested positive on a drug test.

She also won three gold medals at the 2007 All-Africa Games.

Family and childhood

Ramadan was born into a family of weightlifters in Alexandria's district of Al-Wardyan. Her father Ramadan Mohamed El-Sayed was a national weightlifting champion and later head coach of the Alexandria weightlifting zone.

A student at the Cleopatra Experimental School in Alexandria, Ramadan was first spotted by the Bulgarian Yurden Ivanov, the former world and Olympic champion who was selected as head coach of all Egyptian national teams. Ivanov canvassed the country in a bid to select the most promising athletes and was quickly impressed with Ramadan. He predicted that she would become a world champion.