The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Syria

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This page contains a list of the greatest Syrian Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 3 of which were born in Syria. This makes Syria the birth place of the 95th most number of Athletes behind Sudan, and Cameroon.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Syrian Athletes of all time. This list of famous Syrian Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Syrian Athletes.

Photo of Ghada Shouaa

1. Ghada Shouaa (b. 1972)

With an HPI of 40.70, Ghada Shouaa is the most famous Syrian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 28 different languages on wikipedia.

Ghada Shouaa (Arabic: غادة شعاع; born September 10, 1972) is a retired Syrian heptathlete. At the 1996 Summer Olympics, she won her country's first and only Olympic gold medal. She was also a World and Asian heptathlon champion. She is considered one of the best Asian and Arab female athletes of all time. She was a Syrian flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. She has represented Syria in her two strongest multi-event disciplines, the individual high jump and long jump events. She holds the Syrian high jump records with 1.87 m outdoors (1996), in javelin with 54.82 m (1999) in 200 m with 23.78 (1996), in long jump with 6.77 (1996) and in shot put with 16.25 (1999). Shouaa's heptathlon results include finishing 25th at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, 24th at the 1991 World Championships, third at the 1999 World Athletics Championships and first at the 1994 Asian Games. She is also multiple gold medalist at the Arab Athletics Championships. With a performance of 6942 points at the Hypo-Meeting, which moved her into the world all-time Top 25 and she went down in history as the best Asian and Arab heptathlete. Shouaa's career coincided with those of older compatriot, three-time Olympic champion and four-time World champion legend Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Olympic champion Denise Lewis.

Photo of Maxie Parks

2. Maxie Parks (b. 1951)

With an HPI of 35.41, Maxie Parks is the 2nd most famous Syrian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Maxwell Lander ("Maxie") Parks (born July 9, 1951) is an American former athlete from Fresno, California. Winner of the USA Olympic Trials in 1976, he did not gain a medal in the individual event (he came fifth), but did become a winner of a gold medal in 4 × 400 m Men's relay race with Herman Frazier, Benny Brown, and Fred Newhouse at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games. In the 1970s he competed for the UCLA for several years. In 1977 he ran on the 1977 IAAF Athletics World Cup, anchoring the 4 × 400 m relay team to what appeared to be a runaway victory when he collapsed on the track with a severely pulled hamstring 150m from the finish. This unfortunate injury denied the USA a seemingly certain victory in the team competition, the victory instead going to East Germany. Parks did not compete again that season, but did return in 1978 to again capture the national title at 400 m. Any hope of Olympic success in 1980 was denied by the USA boycott of those games, but in any event Parks's form meant he only reached the semi-final stage at the Olympic trials. Prior to UCLA he was a graduate of Washington Union High School, then Fresno City College. In 1979 Parks coached for the Athletes in Action. Parks was in 2010 honoured as a member of the '100 Stars for 100 Years' for Fresno City College. In the publicity for the event, Parks is stated as having received the honour of being, in 1990, inducted into the Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame. Parks has also been elected into the California Community College Track and Field Hall of Fame

Photo of Majd Eddin Ghazal

3. Majd Eddin Ghazal (b. 1987)

With an HPI of 25.30, Majd Eddin Ghazal is the 3rd most famous Syrian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Majd Eddin Ghazal (Arabic: مجد الدين غزال; born 21 April 1987) is a Syrian high jumper. He utilizes the Fosbury Flop style, jumping off his left leg. He was the national flag bearer at the 2012 Summer Olympics and at the 2016 Summer Olympics. In the Men's high jump event, he ranked 28th and did not advance to the final in 2012. He qualified for the finals and finished 7th in 2016.

Photo of Man Asaad

4. Man Asaad (b. 1993)

With an HPI of 24.76, Man Asaad is the 4th most famous Syrian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Man Asaad (Arabic: معن أسعد / ALA-LC: Maʻn Asʻad, Arabic pronunciation: [maʕn ˈʔasʕad]; born 20 November 1993) is a Syrian heavyweight weightlifter who competes in the +109 kg category. He won the bronze medal in the men's +109 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan.

Photo of Aram Mahmoud

5. Aram Mahmoud (b. 1997)

With an HPI of 0.00, Aram Mahmoud is the 5th most famous Syrian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Aram Mahmoud (born 15 July 1997) is a Syrian-born Dutch badminton player. Escaping war and an absence of opportunity in Syria, the talented shuttler is trying to rebuild his game and make the Olympics against all odds. Due to his situation and legal status, Mahmoud was unable to compete at international level from 2015 to 2018, but his rise through the rankings since then shows the desire he has to leave his mark on the sport. He was selected as one of 29 members of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team to compete at 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the first badminton player to be participating at the Olympics as part of the IOC Refugee Team. He relocated to the Netherlands from Damascus, Syria in 2015 following unrest in his home country, and has since April 2018 been playing under the Dutch flag. He combines training with studying at the Johan Cruyff Academy and had previously won the Syrian men’s championship in 2013 and 2014, as well as the Arab Youth Championship.

Photo of Wessam Salamana

6. Wessam Salamana (b. 1985)

With an HPI of 0.00, Wessam Salamana is the 6th most famous Syrian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Wessam Salamana (Arabic: وسام سلامانا) is a Syrian boxer. He is a two-time Olympic qualifier. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he was defeated in his first bout in the bantamweight competition by Kanat Abutalipov. Salamana left war-torn Syria for Germany in 2015 with his wife and children. He eventually resumed his boxing training in Voelklingen. In June 2021, he was awarded qualification for the Tokyo Olympics as a member of the Refugee Olympic Team. He fought in the lightweight division after the elimination of the Olympic men's bantamweight division. Salamana lost his opening bout to Brazil's Wanderson de Oliveira by unanimous decision.

Photo of John Perrin

7. John Perrin (b. )

With an HPI of 0.00, John Perrin is the 7th most famous Syrian Athlete.  Their biography has been translated into different languages.

John Perrin may refer to: John Perrin (American sportsman) (1898–1969, American baseball and football player John Perrin (translator) (1558–1615), English churchman and academic John Draper Perrin (1890–1967), Canadian entrepreneur, mining executive and civic leader Johnny Perrin (born 1983), musician John Gordon Perrin (born 1989), Canadian volleyball player

Photo of Alaa Maso

8. Alaa Maso (b. 2000)

With an HPI of 0.00, Alaa Maso is the 8th most famous Syrian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Alaa Maso (Arabic: علاء ماسو; born 1 January 2000) is a Syrian swimmer. He competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics for the Refugee Olympic Team, taking part in the men's 50m freestyle. His brother Mohamad Maso competed for Syria in the men's triathlon at the 2020 Olympics, coming 47th. The brothers embraced during the Parade of Nations in the opening ceremony. The two brothers left Syria as refugees in 2015 and settled in Germany in 2016.

Photo of Mohamad Maso

9. Mohamad Maso (b. 1993)

With an HPI of 0.00, Mohamad Maso is the 9th most famous Syrian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Mohamad Maso (Arabic: محمد ماسو; born 23 July 1993) is a Syrian triathlete. He competed in the men's event at the 2020 Summer Olympics. During the opening ceremony, he was reunited with his brother, Alaa, who represented the IOC Refugee Olympic Team. Having fled their native country in 2015 during the war in Syria, both brothers finally settled in Germany.

Photo of Ahmad Hamcho

10. Ahmad Hamcho (b. 1992)

With an HPI of 0.00, Ahmad Hamcho is the 10th most famous Syrian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Ahmad Saber Hamcho (Arabic: أحمد صابر حمشو; born 25 November 1992) is a Syrian equestrian who competed in individual jumping at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was the first Syrian to participate in Olympic equestrian events. In December 2019, he qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. He won two gold medals at the 2022 Mediterranean Games. His younger brother, Amre, became the second Syrian equestrian to qualify to the Olympics, competing in the 2024 Summer Olympics.

People

Pantheon has 10 people classified as Syrian athletes born between 1951 and 2000. Of these 10, 10 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Syrian athletes include Ghada Shouaa, Maxie Parks, and Majd Eddin Ghazal. As of April 2024, 6 new Syrian athletes have been added to Pantheon including Aram Mahmoud, Wessam Salamana, and John Perrin.

Living Syrian Athletes

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Newly Added Syrian Athletes (2024)

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