The USA squash star tells Olympics.com how recovering from an eating disorder and two ruptured Achilles tendons gave her an unbreakable mindset, and why she could make more history at the LA 2028 Olympics.

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Despite learning her trade in country clubs in the U.S., Sobhy’s Egyptian roots meant she wasn’t intimidated by their players’ reputations.

“Our father would take us over to Egypt every summer for five weeks and I grew up playing against the Egyptians at one of the original sporting clubs called Heliopolis, which is where men’s world number one Ali Farag and former champion Ramy Ashour played. So I grew up watching them practise,” she continued.

“I am Egyptian by blood and I’m an Egyptian citizen too so I understand the style of play. My style is a little bit of a hybrid of both the Egyptian style and the structured Western style.”

Disaster strikes twice for Amanda Sobhy

This unique style combined with a strong self-belief saw Sobhy enjoy a meteoric rise in squash’s women’s world rankings.

In 2017, she was playing the best squash of her career when she was dealt a devastating blow. Playing at a tournament in Colombia, she ruptured the Achilles tendon in her left leg.

After 10 months of gruelling rehabilitation, she returned, intent on making up for lost time. A fourth U.S. National title followed later that year and a career-high world ranking of three.

Sobhy continued this great form over the next few seasons and arrived at the 2023 Hong Kong Open in confident mood before disaster struck again. After pushing off the back wall to retrieve a ball in her first match, she ruptured the Achilles tendon in her right leg.

“I knew right away what it was. And the shock of it is probably the toughest part to wrap my head around. I never expected such a serious injury to happen again in my career,” Sobhy admitted.

“My initial thoughts were: What did I do to deserve this? Why is this happening to me? I’m a good person. I work hard.”

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