LONDON — Metwaly Mathana won Egypt a powerlifting bronze medal in the men's -82.5kg category at the London 2012 Paralympics here Tuesday, but wore a disappointed look since he was eyeing gold. Mathana even took off his medal soon after the awarding ceremony and even refused to speak to the media after the event. The 28-year-old, Majid Farzin, won gold for Iran after lifting 237kg. The silver went to Chinese Fei Xiao Gu, who lifted 228kg. Mathana is at the Paralympics for the fourth time and he is only used to winning gold. “Mathana is disappointed as he was hoping to win his fourth successive Paralympic medal. He injured his shoulder after Beijing 2008 and it reflected badly on his performance,” said his coach Emadeldin Mohamed. The 37-year-old athlete missed his second and third lifts. He lifted 227kg, while he had trained to lift 237kg, which was equivalent to what he tried to lift in his third attempt. “He was nervous and missed his second and third attempts due to his injury,” said coach Mohamed. Mathana has previously won gold medals in lower weight categories, which were men's -67.5kg in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, and -60kg in Sydney 2000. His coach said he will train and will be ready for Rio 2016. Libya's Abdelrazik Baaba, however, left the Games disappointed after finishing 12th in the same category. He could only lift 155kg Tuesday. Baaba was suffering from a shoulder injury and his training circumstances did not help either. “Training conditions are hard in Libya, especially after the political unrest,” he said. The unrest in Libya has left a lot of people with physical disabilities. “Many people have lost their limbs and had to have their legs or arms amputated. Sports is the only way of getting out of the depression the war has caused. Many of them will participate in championships for the disabled people and plan to take part in the next Paralympics,” he added. Baaba qualified for London 2012 Paralympics after lifting 162kg in a championship in the UAE last February. Competition in powerlifting will come to an end Wednesday. Randa Mahmoud won a silver medal in the women's -82.5 lifting 140kg. Nigerian Loveline Obiji won the gold for a 145kg lift. "This is my second Paralympics but the toughest championship I have ever been to," Mahmoud said. This lifts the number of medals Egypt has won in powerlifting to eight.
