Shady Elnahas

Biography

Shady Elnahas made his Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 where he won his way through the repechage and into a bronze medal match where he lost to Jorge Fonseca of Portugal, finishing tied for fifth in the men’s 100kg event.  

At the 2024 IJF World Championships, Elnahas earned his first career world championship medal when he came home with the silver after facing world number one Zelym Kotsoiev of Azerbaijan in the final. That helped Elnahas head to Paris 2024 as the third-ranked man in the world in the 100kg weight class. 

Elnahas has won 12 Grand Slam medals throughout his career, including a pair of silver medals in March 2024 in Tbilisi and Antalya. He followed up by winning gold at the Pan American Championships for the fifth straight time. 

In 2023, Elnahas finished fifth at the world championships after losing in the bronze medal match.  That fall, he won gold at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games. 

Elnahas has been representing Canada internationally since 2018. He earned his first title in just his third-ever international event, the Santo Domingo Pan American Open, a moment that made him know he had found what he was supposed to be doing. Shortly thereafter, he competed at his first IJF Junior World Championship where he finished fifth. A few weeks later, he reached the podium in his first ever Grand Slam event, winning the silver in Osaka. 

Elnahas earned his second Grand Slam podium early in 2019, winning bronze in Ekaterinburg. He then won the first of his gold medals at the Pan American Championships. His next podium was his first in a Grand Prix event, as he won silver in Montreal. He followed that with his first Grand Prix gold in Zagreb. In his first senior IJF World Championships, Elnahas made it to the repechage where he lost to eventual bronze medallist Aaron Wolf. Before the end of the year, he earned another Grand Slam podium, winning bronze in Abu Dhabi. 

In early 2020, El Nahas finished fifth at the Paris Grand Slam before competition was halted because of the COVID-19 pandemic. When competition resumed in October, he won bronze at the Hungary Grand Slam. In March 2021, he earned his first career Grand Slam title when he won gold in Tbilisi. At the 2021 World Championships, Elnahas fought his way into a bronze medal match where he lost to Ilia Sulamanidze of Georgia to finish in a tie for fifth. 

A Little More About Shady

Getting into the Sport: Started in judo at age 4, trying to follow in the footsteps of older brother Mohab… Began training and competing seriously after moving to Canada from Egypt at age 12… Likes that it is a tactical sport requiring physical and mental strength and that he gets pushed to his absolute limit where he strives… Outside Interests: Enjoys watching and playing basketball, spending time with his dog to relieve stress… Would like to open a gym and physiotherapy clinic after his judo career… Studying kinesiology at Concordia… Odds and Ends: Appreciates the sacrifices of his parents to ensure a good life and education in Canada for their sons… Older brother Mohab is also a member of the national judo team and won bronze at the 2019 Pan Am Games… Took part in the second season of Love Island Quebec in 2022… Favourite quote: “Pain doesn’t tell you when you ought to stop. Pain is the little voice in your head that tries to hold you back because it knows if you continue you will change” -Kobe Bryant…