Weightlifting: Egypt's Ihab to be awarded 2016 Rio Olympics silver after Rahimov’s doping ban

Ahmed Abd El Rasoul , Wednesday 23 Mar 2022

Egypt's weightlifting champion Mohamed Ihab is set to be awarded the silver medal of the 2016 Rio Olympics instead of the bronze after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) stripped Kazakhstan's Nijat Rahimov from the gold medal due to a doping violation.

Egypt s prominent weightlifter Mohamed Ihab

On Tuesday, the CAS announced that 28-year-old Rahimov was found guilty of violating doping rules and will be banned for eight years.

All competitive results of Nihat Rahimov starting 15 March 2016 to 18 January 2021 "are disqualified with all consequences, including forfeiture of any medals, points, and prizes,” the CAS explained in a statement on its website.

At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Ihab clinched a bronze after lifting 165kg in the snatch and 196kg in the clean and jerk to achieve a total of 361kg in the 77kg weight category. Ihab came in third after Rahimov and China's Lu Xiaojun.

Now Xiaojun will be awarded the gold, Ihab the silver, according to the regulations of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The 32-year-old Egyptian weightlifter has won an Olympic bronze medal, a World Championship gold in 2017, and three silver world medals.

After missing the 2020 Tokyo Games due to a doping ban on Egypt, Ihab was obliged to withdraw from the World Championship in December 2021 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, due to injury.

(For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)