His family is of Egyptian origin, but he has lived for thirty years in Italy, on the Roman coast. His first sport was basketball, but since 2008 he has been completely dedicated to athletics, starting in the youth centres of Ostia at the Caserma Italia and relegating his playmaker position to pure enjoyment. After trying pole vaulting, he switched to middle distance running at the court of Andrea Ceccarelli, with whom he achieved his first successes as a student. Then the stop. A drop in motivation had led him to hang up his racing shoes, but coach Vittorio Di Saverio and team-mate Yassin Bouih convinced him to take up the challenge. And he never stopped: all the way to the European under 23 silver medal in the 3000 metres steeplechases. This year in Ostrava, he improved by almost 5 seconds and got the pass for the Games in 8'21"54. A student of social sciences for international cooperation, he arrives in Tokyo with the desire to grow further.