Egyptian Skater Mohamed 'Mo' Kamel Passes Away

Pioneering Egyptian skateboarder Mo Kamel has passed away. He was 60.

Kamel began skating in 1976 after begging his grandmother to buy him a skateboard while visiting France. It was the beginning of a decades-long love affair that eventually led him to help popularize the sport in Egypt during the 1980s and 1990s.

Often seen skating the streets of Maadi well into his fifties, Kamel inspired new generations of skaters and never gave up his fight to make skateboarding a legitimate sport in Egypt.

Regularly building his own ramps and fixing his and numerous friends' boards, Kamel remained committed to skating at a time when Egypt had no skateparks or equipment stores, often having to purchase boards from overseas.

CairoScene spoke to Kamel in 2023. At the time, the then 57-year-old was still gliding down homemade half-pipes on a board from 1992. “You know I’m older than you guys, but I still love this sport and I still skate and I am better than some of you,” he said, before adding that skateboarding was like “freedom” for him, something he enjoyed sharing with young skaters.

His legacy will live on through what he helped build in Egypt and Cairo: a community of dedicated skaters.