LONDON: Veteran Egyptian Greco-Roman wrestler Karam Gaber's bid for a fairytale return to the Olympics 20 years after winning gold has been foiled by injury, the 44-year-old said yesterday.
"Injury will stop me from participating in the African championship that qualifies for the Olympics," Gaber, who had recently returned to training after years of absence, wrote on his Facebook page.
"I would like to thank every Egyptian, sports ministry, Egyptian Olympic Committee, and the Egyptian Wrestling Federation for their support," he added.
"God willing, I will train national teams to transfer my experience to the next generations."
Gaber is one of Egypt's most decorated Olympians, having won the gold medal in the 2004 Athens Games and silver in London in 2012. He also carried his country's flag at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
However, he missed the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro after being hit with a two-year anti-doping suspension after a series of missed tests and failed in an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to overturn the ban.
After his suspension expired in August 2017, Gaber remained outside the sport before deciding to prepare for the African Championships as a stepping stone to Paris.
He won the gold medal in Greco-Roman at the Veteran World Championships in Greece last October in his comeback event. -REUTERS