Egypt’s first-ever female boxer to qualify for the Olympics, Youmna Ayyad, was disqualified on Saturday after failing to make weight for the 54kg contest.
Ayyad, set to face the highly favored Uzbekistan’s Nigina Uktamova, was nearly a kilogram over the limit and subsequently disqualified.
The Egyptian Olympic Committee announced an immediate investigation into the incident.
“Youmna was scheduled to compete in the 54kg category, and she reported her weight to federation officials at midnight before the bout, and it was OK,” a furious EOC treasurer and national boxing federation chief Mohamed Abdel Aziz Ghoneim told reporters. “In the morning, when she underwent the official weigh-in, she was 900 grams over her weight and was disqualified.”
Ayyad, 21, was not immediately available for comment.
