By Mohamed Assed.
Tripoli, 3 . . .[restrict]August:
Mystery surrounds the participation of Libyan weightlifter Ali Elkekli in the London Olympics.
The 22-year-old not present at the 85-kilogramme weightlifting competition on Friday in which he was set to compete.
Elkekli’s name has also been removed from the list of competitors on the official London 2012 website.
It has been alleged on Facebook that he has been banned having failed a drugs test. However, although officals are usually quick to confirm any such reports — as in the case of artistic gymnast Luiza Galiulina of Uzbekistan who was thrown out of the Olympics yesterday after she failed a drugs test — they have said nothing on the subject of Elkekli, which suggest the rumour is untrue.
The organisers are yet to release a statement explaining the athlete’s exit from the competition.
Meanwhile, Hala Gezah, Libya’s only female Olympian at these games, failed to qualify for the first round of the women’s 100-metre sprint, finishing fifth in her preliminary heat at the Olympic Stadium on Friday.
The 22-year-old ran in Heat 4, which consisted of nine runners from as many different countries. Although Hala was outside her personal best of 13.15 seconds, her time of 13.24 seconds was faster than four of her competitors: Rijal Pramila of Nepal, Janice Alatoa of Vanuatu, Wendolin Mihter of the Federated States of Micronesia and Afghani runner Tahmina Kohistani.
Ten of the 32 runners in the four preliminary heats qualified for round one. Gezah’s heat was won by Wisil Toea of Papua New Guinea in 11.60 seconds, the fasted qualifying time over all the heats. [/restrict]
