Positive tests prove doping remains an issue in developing world

Doping continues to be a major issue to tackle for world sports chiefs. However, they had some good news on that front recently when it was announced that only five athletes from around a third of Olympic athletes who were drug-tested during the Paris Games this year tested positive for doping.

This was announced by the International Testing Agency (ITA) 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 are:

Judokas:

Sajjad Ghanim Sehen Sehen (Iraq)

Mohammad Samim Faizad (Afghanistan)

Boxing:

Cynthia Temitayo Ogunsemilore (Nigeria)

Cynthia Temitayo Ogunsemilore AFP

Sprinting:

Dominique Lasconi Mulamba (Democratic Republic of Congo)

Swimming:

Maria Jose Ribera Pinto (Bolivia)

Maria Jose Ribera Pinto Maria's official Instagram account

Interestingly, all five athletes who tested positive in Paris belong to countries from the developing world. This means that though the anti-doping measures carried out by international authorities are working, more efforts are needed in developing countries.

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.