By Ashraf Hamed Atta
PARIS (Reuters) – The Egyptian Olympic Committee said on Sunday that “physiological and hormonal changes” were behind boxer Youmna Ayyad’s failure to make the weight for the 54kg contest at the Paris Olympics.
Egypt’s first female boxer to qualify for the Olympics exited the Games without throwing a punch on Saturday.
Youmna had been due to fight heavily fancied Uzbek Nigina Uktamova, but weighed in almost a kilogram too heavy and was disqualified.
The EOC cleared Youmna and the technical staff of any wrongdoings, saying in a statement sent to Reuters after its investigation that: “Upon her arrival in Paris, Youmna suffered weight gain due to travel and flight, then she was able to meet weight requirements after following a special program in the days before the competition after her arrival in Paris.
“Then she was surprised by physiological and hormonal changes understandable to all women and doctors, we prefer not to reveal details according to our Egyptian traditions and to protect the rights of the boxer.”
The EOC said a detailed medical report explaining the situation was available for review by any specialist.
(Reporting by Ashraf Hamed Atta; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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