Said El-Ashry

Said El-Ashry had a prolific boxing career during the 1970s, beginning as a light-flyweight. In 1971 he was selected to represent Egypt at the Mediterranean Games, where he won a silver medal. His next stop was the 1972 Munich Olympics, where he defeated Benin’s Meriga Salou Seriki before being eliminated by James Odwori of Uganda in round two.

Ashry then moved up to the flyweight division and attended the 1975 Mediterranean Games, this time winning gold. He was then sent to the 1976 Montreal Olympics, where he defeated Hungary’s Sándor Orbán before Egypt withdrew from the Games in protest of New Zealand’s sporting connections to South Africa. He was also the military world champion in 1974 and continued competing through the end of the decade, winning the 1979 Egyptian national flyweight title, before switching to coaching. He coached at numerous levels and eventually rose to head Egypt’s youth team by 2015.