Russia has denied that one of its diplomats was the jiu-jitsu trained man who killed an attempted car-jacker on the eve of the Rio Olympic Games.

The incident occurred on the main thoroughfare between the Olympic Park and Rio city centre at around 1am Friday (AEST), with initial reports suggesting the man who shot the assailant was a Russian diplomat.

But Russia disputed the local police and media reports, claiming that the man who shot the assailant was not one of its diplomats.

Russian news service RT quoted Consul General of the Russian Federation in Rio de Janeiro, Vladimir Tokmakov, as having said: “Information circulating in the Brazilian press about the alleged shooting … of a Brazilian national by a Russian diplomat during an armed robbery does not reflect reality.”

Mr Tomakov said Russian diplomats and security guards “had nothing to do” with the incident.

Rio de Janeiro’s police said the Russian diplomat, a vice-consul, “reacted to an attempted assault”.

“The vice-consul got into a physical struggle with the assailant and during the fight the aggressor’s weapon fired shots. The assailant died of his wounds on the spot,” police said in a statement.

The Russian embassy in Brazil’s capital, Brasilia, issued a statement saying that “no representative of the Russian consulate-general in Rio de Janeiro was involved in an attempted assault ending with the death of the suspect”.

Carjacker shot ‘at point blank range’

Car jackings are not unusual in the South American nation. But one criminal chose the wrong target in a decision that led to chaotic scenes.

Rio police said the fight took place in the western zone of Rio where the Olympic Park and athletes’ village are located.

The car jacker – Leonardo Lopes Batista – was on a motorbike with another man and struck while traffic was stopped waiting for the Olympic torch to pass.

As the attack began the reported Russian diplomat grabbed the assailant and pulled him inside his BMW.

The assailant had smashed the car’s window and pointed a gun at him, demanding the man’s watch.

The reported Russian diplomat grabbed the assailant’s gun and fatally shot him at point blank range, local media outlet Globo reported.

He was trained in martial arts and was travelling with his daughter at the time he was attacked by the car jacker.

The assailant’s body reportedly lay in the street for some hours after the incident, as police investigated what occurred.

Some 80,000 security personnel have flooded the streets of Rio to combat the cities crime rates and the threat of terror during the Olympics.