Osman El-Sayed

Osman El-Sayed began his sports career at the age of 10, but as a swimmer, and did not take up wrestling for several years after that. He made his major international début for Egypt at the inaugural 1951 Mediterranean Games, but did not win a medal. After transferring to the Al-Ahly Club from Tersana, and training under El-Sayed Kandil, he returned to the Mediterranean Games in 1955 and took silver in the flyweight, freestyle category after losing the final to Ahmet Bilek of Turkey. He could not, however, defend this medal at the 1959 edition.

El-Sayed was then selected to represent Egypt (then known as the United Arab Republic due its political union with Syria) at the 1960 Rome Olympics in the flyweight, Greco-Roman division, where he won a silver medal behind Romania’s Dumitru Pîrvulescu. At the national championships he won this event every year from 1951 through 1960. He was also the Military World Champion in that event in 1961 and 1962, and retired from active competition in 1964. He later worked as a wrestling coach and administrator.