Athlete Profiles – Egypt

MOSCOW (RUS), FIG Office, September 22, 2010: Egypt is one of the leading Arab federations for Rhythmic Gymnastics, and curiosity is high here in Moscow as people anticipate their performances. Let us welcome Heba Khaled Elbourini, Mariz Farid Shawki and Yasmin Mohamed Rostom!

Heba Khaled Elbourini

'I started Gymnastics when I was four. And as I don’t have a particular place to train, I usually come to Moscow to train under Irina Alexandrova. In Egypt I train alone, since I don’t have a coach there.

If I am to make any progress, I will need more support from the Gymnastics Community. We don’t get enough aid, but I hope the situation will change soon. 

I really hope that an international competition or championships will take place in Egypt some day, but I doubt it will happen in the near future. The level of financing for Rhythmic Gymnastics is extremely low in Egypt. It’s much worse than in Russia, for instance, where Gymnastics is very popular and highly developed. In my country, however, the current Rhythmic landscape is much better than in other African countries. '

Mariz Farid Shawki

'I started training when I was three years old. I train in Cairo, the capital of Egypt. My head coach is Paulina Nicolova from Bulgaria.
 
I hope my country will one day host a big competition and welcome the world’s best gymnasts. It’s my dream. I’m not sure it will happen anytime soon, but I do hope so. Both the government and the gymnasts should do their best and work hard to make this dream come true.'

Yasmin Mohamed Rostom

'I started training when I was three. I train in Egypt with the national team. My coach is Cara Enstrim.

Watch Yasmin Mohamed ROSTOM & Mariz Fahrid's (EGY) performance here!

The FIG has always helped and supported us, and we appreciate it a lot. Still, we need more funds and support if we are to have better training conditions, and we’re working very hard to achieve that.'