Hassan El-Haddad

The first major success of Hassan El-Haddad’s lengthy international career as a super-heavyweight wrestler came when he won silver in the Greco-Roman division at the 1979 African Championships. That same year, he was fifth at the Mediterranean Games. After becoming African Champion in 1982, he had a string of successes in international tournaments and took silver and bronze in Greco-Roman and freestyle respectively at the 1983 Mediterranean Games, a feat that he would repeat in 1987. He was African Champion in Greco-Roman again in 1984 and was fifth and fourth in Greco-Roman and freestyle respectively at that year’s Los Angeles Olympics.

El-Haddad defended his African title six more times: 1985, 1986, 1988-1990, and 1992. He was also runner-up in the freestyle event in 1990. He was Arab Greco-Roman champion in 1988 and also competed at the Seoul Olympics that year, placing fourth in Greco-Roman and withdrawing from competition in freestyle. He made his only World Championship appearance in 1990, came in fourth in both divisions at the 1991 Mediterranean Games, and became African Games champion in Greco-Roman in 1991. Following his retirement from active competition, El-Haddad served as the deputy editor-in-chief of Egypt’s largest newspaper, Al-Ahram, and was the head of the Egyptian Wrestling Federation at the time of his death.