Mohamed Abdelfatah

Mohamed Abdelfatah
Born	(1978-02-04) February 4, 1978 Suez, Egypt
Other names	Bogy
Occupation(s)	Wrestler, coach
Years active	1995–present
Known for	World Champion in Greco-Roman wrestling (2006)
Notable work	Coaching Sweden's national wrestling team, USA Wrestling National Coach, University of North Carolina coaching staff

Mohamed Abdelfatah (Arabic: محمد عبد الفتاح, born February 4, 1978, in Suez, Egypt), widely recognized by his nickname "Bogy" (Arabic: بوجى), is a former Egyptian Greco-Roman wrestler who participated in the Olympic Games across the 76 kg, 84 kg, and 96 kg divisions.

In 2006, he claimed the World Championship title in Guangzhou, China, competing at 84 kg. Along with Mostafa Hamid—who earned Egypt’s last World medal in wrestling back in 1954—Abdelfatah stands as one of only two Egyptian athletes to have achieved a World Championship victory.

His accolades also include a bronze medal at the 2002 World Championships in Moscow at 84 kg and a silver medal at the Junior World Championships held in Cairo in 1998. Abdelfatah represented Egypt in three editions of the Olympic Games: Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, and London 2012.

Although an ACL injury in 2007 hindered his chance to qualify for the Beijing 2008 Olympics, he demonstrated determination by shifting his focus toward coaching.

Starting in 2009, Bogy took on the role of coach for Sweden’s national wrestling team, guiding Jimmy Lidberg to a World Championship silver medal and Jalmar Sjöberg to bronze. In 2010, he contributed as a technical coach for the United States Greco-Roman team.

Between 2013 and 2017, he served as assistant coach at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs under Momir Petkovic, an Olympic champion coach. In 2015, Mohamed played a key role in developing wrestling programs in Bahrain and secured an Asian bronze medal at the Asian Championships held in Thailand.

From 2017 through 2022, Abdelfatah was appointed head coach at the Colorado Springs Olympic Center and served as National Coach for USA Wrestling. In 2023, he joined the University of North Carolina’s coaching staff, helping the program achieve one of its finest seasons—highlighted by Austin O'Connor capturing his second NCAA National title and two UNC wrestlers earning All-American honors.

In addition to his coaching responsibilities, Mohamed functions as a Coach Educator for United World Wrestling, focusing on enhancing coaching standards worldwide.

Early life

Born as the eldest among four brothers in Suez, Mohamed grew up under the influence of his father, who was a lifelong soccer coach committed to sports excellence. At six years old, Mohamed started wrestling at Elsamad Club in Suez after encouragement from a family friend who coached there.

In 1995, Yehia Kazarian—the then head coach of Egypt’s national Greco-Roman team—recognized Mohamed’s potential based on his physical attributes and wrestling skills. That same year marked his induction into the national team.

2011 World Championship

Competing in the 96 kg division and ranked fifth globally, Abdelfatah was the sole African wrestler to earn qualification for the 2012 Olympic Games.

2000 Olympics

Wrestler	Wins	Losses	Classification Points	Technical Points
Template:FlagIOCathlete	2	0	6	9
Template:FlagIOCathlete	1	1	5	15
Template:FlagIOCathlete	0	2	0	0

Red Wrestler	Blue Wrestler	Classification Points	Technical Points
Quincey Clark	Luis Enrique Méndez	0-3 PO	0-5
Mohamed Abdelfatah	Quincey Clark	4-0 ST	12-0
Luis Enrique Méndez	Mohamed Abdelfatah	3-1 PP	4-3

Pool 2

Competitor	Wins	Losses	Classification Points	Technical Points
Template:FlagIOCathlete	2	0	6	7
Template:FlagIOCathlete	1	1	4	0
Template:FlagIOCathlete	0	2	0	0

Red Corner	Blue Corner	Classification Points	Technical Points
Mohamed Abdelfatah	Mukhran Vakhtangadze	3-0 PO	3-0
Brad Vering	Mohamed Abdelfatah	0-3 PO	0-4

Significant international accomplishments

• Bronze medal at the Asian Championships held in Thailand (2015) representing Bahrain
• Bronze at the Mediterranean Games in Istanbul (2013)
• Ranked 13th at the London Summer Olympics (2012)
• Achieved 5th place at the World Championship in Istanbul (2011)
• Bronze medalist at the Golden Grand Prix in Tbilisi (2011)
• Silver at the Golden Grand Prix Final in Baku (2010)
• Gold medal at the African Championships in Cairo (2010)
• Secured gold at the Mediterranean Games in Istanbul (2010)
• World Champion with a gold medal in Guangzhou (2006)
• Gold medalist at the Mediterranean Games in Almeria (2005)
• Winner of the David Cup in the USA (2005)
• Gold at the All Arab Games, Algeria (2004)
• Grand Prix champion in Hungary (2004)
• Fourth place at the Poland Open (2003)
• Gold medalist at the World Cup held in Cairo (2002)
• Bronze medalist at the World Championship in Moscow (2002)
• Winner of the Diamond Championship in Germany (2002)
• Champion of Ibraheem Mostafa tournament, Alexandria (2002)
• African Championship gold medalist in Cairo (2002)
• Gold medalist at the World Cup in France (2001)
• Ibraheem Mostafa tournament champion, Cairo (2001)
• Mediterranean Games gold medalist, Tunisia (2001)
• Fifth place at Russia Open, Moscow (2001)
• African Championship winner, Morocco (2001)
• Gold medalist at Arab Championship, Syria (2001)
• Austria Open champion (2001)
• Ranked 8th at the Summer Olympics (2000)
• Fifth place finish at Russia Open, Moscow (2000)
• African Championship gold medalist, Tunisia (2000)
• Grand Prix winner, Alexandria (2000)
• Bronze medalist at Grand Prix Final, Italy (2000)
• France Open bronze medalist (2000)
• Double golds in Freestyle and Greco-Roman categories at African Games, South Africa (1999)
• Gold medalist at Arab Games, Jordan (1999)
• King's Championship winner, Jordan (1999)
• Silver medalist at Junior World Championship, Cairo (1998)
• African Nations champion, Cairo (1998)
• Multiple golds at Arab Junior Cup held in Syria and Cairo between 1996 and 1997

External links and references

• FILA Wrestling Database Profile