Zeina Ibrahim
Zeina Ibrahim Sharaf is an Egyptian artistic gymnast. She is the 2019 African Games team and uneven bars champion and the 2021 African all-around champion. She is also the 2022 African team and balance beam champion. She represented Egypt at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games and the 2020 Olympic Games.
Personal life
Ibrahim was born in Alexandria in 2003. She speaks both Arabic and English.
Junior gymnastics career
2016–17
Ibrahim made her international debut at the 2016 African Championships, where she helped Egypt place first in the team competition. She then competed at the Tournoi International in Combs-la-Ville, France where she placed 24th in the all-around. In 2017, Ibrahim only competed at the Egyptian Championships in Cairo where she placed fifth all-around in the junior division.
2018
Ibrahim started the season competing at the Stella Zakharova Cup in Kyiv, Ukraine, where she finished ninth in the all-around and sixth with the Egyptian team. In the event finals, she won bronze on the vault and gold on the balance beam by over half a point ahead of teammate Jana Mahmoud. She next competed at the African Championships where she helped Egypt win the gold medal as a team. Additionally, she placed third in the all-around and on uneven bars. In September, she competed at the Junior Mediterranean Championships where Egypt placed fourth as a team, and individually, she placed 15th in the all-around and sixth on uneven bars. Then in October, Ibrahim represented Egypt at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires. While there, she was assigned to the Gymnastics at the [2018 Summer Youth Olympics – Mixed multi-discipline team|mixed multi-discipline team] named after British gymnast Max Whitlock, and they won the silver medal behind the team named after American gymnast Simone Biles. Individually, Ibrahim qualified for the Gymnastics at the 2018 [Summer Youth Olympics – Girls' artistic individual all-around|all-around final] where she finished in 18th place.
Senior gymnastics career
2019
Ibrahim became age-eligible for senior competition in 2019 and made her senior debut at the African Games. She, along with teammates Farah Hussein, Farah Salem, Mandy Mohamed, and Nancy Taman, won gold in the team competition. Individually, Ibrahim won the silver medal on the uneven bars behind compatriot Hussein. In November, she competed at the 2019 FIG [Artistic Gymnastics World Cup series#Women|Cottbus World Cup] but did not advance into any finals.
2021
In May, Ibrahim competed at the 2021 African Championships in Cairo. She placed first in the all-around and Gymnastics at the [2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification|qualified] to compete at the 2020 Olympic Games. She next competed at the 2021 FIG Artistic [Gymnastics World Cup series#Women|Cairo World Challenge Cup] where she won the bronze medal on balance beam behind Larisa Iordache and Diana Varinska, and she finished sixth on the uneven bars. Then at the Doha World Cup, she finished fifth on the uneven bars and fourth on the balance beam. At the Olympic Games, Ibrahim finished 64th in the all-around during qualification round and did not advance to any finals.
2022
Ibrahim competed at the Cairo World Cup, where she finished seventh on the balance beam. She next competed at the Mediterranean Games alongside Jana Abdelsalam, Jana Aboelhasan, Jana Mahmoud, and Nour Swidan, and they finished sixth as a team. In July, Ibrahim she at the African Championships, where she helped Egypt finish first as a team. As a result, they qualified a team to compete at the upcoming World Championships. Individually, Ibrahim won gold on the balance beam and silver on the uneven bars behind Caitlin Rooskrantz of South Africa. She competed with the Egyptian team at the World Championships, and they placed 22nd in the qualification round.