PARIS: Around a third of Olympic athletes were drug-tested during the Paris Games this year, with only five positive results, the International Testing Agency (ITA) said on Thursday.

That is one fewer than the Tokyo Games in 2021, although those tested represented a 4% increase on the previous Games and 10% higher than Rio in 2016.

The ITA, which was in charge of testing during the Games, said 4,770 athletes — 39 per cent of the total — had samples of their urine, blood and dried blood analysed during the July 26-August 11 event.

ITA said it was the highest proportion of athletes ever tested, which followed intensive screening during 2024 which meant 90 per cent of competitors were analysed at least once before the Games.

The agency added the greatest number of tests were implemented on athletes from the largest participating delegations: the United States, France, China and Australia.

“Sports such as athletics, aquatics, cycling, rowing, and wrestling saw the highest number of doping controls,” read their statement.

The five athletes who tested positive in Paris were judokas Sajjad Ghanim Sehen Sehen from Iraq and Mohammad Samim Faizad from Afghanistan, as well as Nigerian boxer Cynthia Temitayo Ogunsemilore, Congolese sprinter Dominique Lasconi Mulamba and Bolivian swimmer Maria Jose Ribera Pinto.

The quintet may not be the last to be exposed as the ITA said the last phase of its anti-doping programme is the long-term storage and re-analysis of samples collected prior to and during the Games.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2024