Nearly 39% of athletes were tested during the Paris Olympic Games (OG) and five positive cases were detected at this stage – compared to six cases in Tokyo in 2021 –, the International Testing Agency (ITA), responsible for the anti-doping programme during the Games, reported in a press release on Thursday 19 September.
A total of 6,130 samples (urine, blood, dried blood) were taken during 4,770 tests carried out on 4,150 athletes, according to the ITA, which specifies that these are “the largest proportion” The athletes were never tested (4% more than in Tokyo in 2021, 10% more than in Rio in 2016). These tests took place between the opening of the Olympic Village in mid-July and the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games on 11 August.
The ITA carried out specific controls, including: “almost two thirds” took place during the competition itself, and the rest outside. The countries most frequently monitored include the United States, France, China, Australia and Great Britain. The most monitored sports are, in order, athletics, swimming, cycling, rowing and wrestling.
The ITA had also conducted a testing programme several weeks before the Olympics – a high-risk period – meaning that around 90% (representing 200 countries) of the approximately 10,000 participants in the Paris Olympics were tested at least once, the ITA said. Some forty anti-doping rule violations were recorded during this period. All samples collected during the Paris Olympics are stored for ten years in a secret ITA laboratory in Switzerland for re-analysis.
