World javelin silver medallist Ihab Abdelrahman has been banned from the Rio Games by Egypt’s national Olympic Committee after testing positive for a banned substance.
The 27-year-old, who secured a silver in Beijing last year, tested positive in April and was temporarily suspended, although he has protested his innocence.
The tests were analysed in Barcelona and the athlete was asked to travel to the Spanish city but refused and asked for a second test to be taken after the Rio Games.
Mamduh al-Shishtawi, the executive director of the Egyptian Olympics Committee, told AFP that Abdelrahman has therefore been excluded from the team.
Doping has been to the forefront of the news in the run-up to Rio, with Russia’s participation already under fierce scrutiny over state-sponsored doping.
Another Egyptian athlete, hammer thrower Mostafa Al-Gamel, will miss the Games because of injury.
