ITA concludes Paris anti-doping programme with 5 positive cases

Five athletes failed drug tests at the 2024 Paris Olympics the organisation’s anti-doping programme, International Testing Agency (ITA), reported Thursday. The agency found 40 violations among the 6,130 samples collected — almost 39% of the athletes who participated in the Games. 

Over 4,770 controls were conducted on 4,150 athletes and samples of urine, blood, and DBS (Dried Blood Spot) were collected both in and out of competition —spanning from the opening of the Olympic Village to the Closing Ceremony— while nearly 90% of athletes who took part were tested at least once before the Paris Summer Games opened, the agency reported. The operation represents a 4% increase compared to Tokyo 2020 and 10% higher than Rio 2016. 

The five positive tests in Paris — involving anabolic steroids and a diuretic— came from two cases in judo and one each in track and field, aquatics and boxing. The athletes, from Afghanistan, Bolivia, Congo, Iraq and Nigeria, were removed ahead of their event or had their results disqualified. 

Among the athletes suspended so far are judoka Mohammad Samim Faizad and Nigerian boxer Cynthia Temitayo Ogunsemilore who were removed from competition and their cases have been passed on to the Anti-Doping Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS ADD) and/or their respective federations to be prosecuted.

The analysis for banned substances or methods on the 6,130 collected samples by a laboratory accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency in Paris has been finalised.

The samples, including selected ones from the pre-Games testing programme, will now be stored for 10 years. They can be opened and re-analyzed when better tests are developed and new intelligence emerges.