Helmi Abdel Rahman

Helmi Abdel Rahman made his Olympic fencing début for Egypt at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where he was eliminated in round one of the individual sabre tournament. The following year he was fourth in that event, as well as the individual épée, at the national championships. In 1938, he was sixth in the foil and third in the sabre, while in 1939, as a student at Université égyptienne (now Cairo University), he was the University sabre champion.

Abdel Rahman’s results improved following World War II, beginning with a bronze medal in the team sabre at the 1947 World Championships. He then represented Egypt at the 1948 London Olympics, where he was a non-playing reserve in the sabre tournaments, but reached the quarter-finals of both the team and individual épée competitions. At the 1949 World Championships, he defended his bronze in the team sabre and added another in the team épée, while in 1950 he was able to win a third team sabre bronze medal. His next stop was the inaugural Mediterranean Games in 1951, where he captured silver and bronze in the sabre and épée team events respectively. He competed in both the team and individual tournaments of both of those disciplines at the 1952 Helsinki Games, having his best Olympic result in the individual épée, where he reached the semi-finals. Abdel Rahman won two more major international medals in 1955 when he captured bronze in the team sabre and épée tournaments at the Mediterranean Games.