Why was Egyptian cyclist Shahd Saied removed from the Paris 2024 Olympics?

The Egyptian Olympic Committee has disqualified cyclist Shahd Saied from competing at the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics following a recent incident involving Saied and fellow cyclist Jana Aliwa. The committee announced their decision in an official statement.

The controversial incident took place in the month of April during the National Championships in Egypt. A video from the said event showed Shahd Saied pushing her opponent Jana Aliwa to the ground after colliding with her. She then appeared to have raced away.

Following the incident, Aliwa laid serious allegations against Saied for having collided with her deliberately and, in the process, left her with a broken collarbone, bruises, temporary memory loss, and a concussion. Based on the allegations, Saied was banned for a year from all local competitions.

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Shahd Saied’s Olympic selection causes a huge uproar prior to the ban

There was further controversy when Shahd Saied was selected for the Summer Olympics by the Egyptian Cycling Federation on Tuesday. The selection was met with harsh criticism even though the federation had tried to justify their decision by stating that she had qualified for the Olympic Games prior to the incident.

However, the continued outrage prompted the sports ministry of the country to step in and call for a review of the decision. Following the review, the Olympic Committee ruled on Sunday that the ban previously imposed on the cyclist, which barred her from participating in local competitions, also made her ineligible for international competitions.

Though the decision came out on Sunday, Saied had already announced her decision to retire to a local TV channel by then.

“I’m not going to bike anymore. If they don’t want me to represent Egypt, fine, I won’t go to the Olympiad,” she said on Saturday.

Shahd Saied, who hails from Fayoum in the south of Cairo, won two gold medals at an African Championships earlier in the year.

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