Sayed Nosseir

Sayed Nosseir took up weightlifting in his hometown of Tanta, soon settling into the light-heavyweight division. He won his first national championship in that category in 1925 and defended his title through 1928, when he was selected to represent Egypt at the 1928 Amsterdam Games. There, he equalled Frenchman Louis Hostin’s lifts in the press and clean and jerk, but edged his opponent out in the snatch by 1 kg. to earn Egypt’s first Olympic gold medal. He then moved to the heavyweight division and won gold medals at the European Championships in 1930 and 1931, as well as the 1932 Egyptian national championships, before retiring from active competition. Over the course of his career, he set nine world records. He later became a coach and accompanied the Egyptian national team to many tournaments, including several editions of the Olympic Games, and was involved in training scouts after the 1952 Egyptian Revolution.