four out of ten athletes have received doping control, five good cases found – Libération

2024-09-19 14:03:44

More than 4,150 athletes were tested during the two-week Olympics this summer, i.e. the “largest proportion” of athletes ever tested, said in a paper published this Wednesday, September 19, the International Testing Agency, overseeing the anti-doping program during the Games.

Not a single sporting event has been examined by anti-doping authorities. About 39% of the athletes were tested during the Paris Olympic Games and five positive cases were found at this stage, details this Thursday, September 19, International Testing Agency (ITA). Established in 2018 and funded in part by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the ITA plans, organizes and manages the results of anti-doping controls during the Games. He has already worked in Tokyo in 2021 then in Beijing in 2022 and he also manages the anti-doping program for the Tour de France and many sports regulations.

In total on these Games, 6,130 samples (urine, blood, dried blood) were taken from 4,770 tests on 4,154 athletes, according to the ITA. An increase of 4% compared to Tokyo 2020 and 10% compared to Rio 2016. Maybe “highest percentage” that the athletes did not test, according to the ITA, in line with the goals set by the agency in the spring. These targeted inspections take place between the opening of the Olympic Village in mid-July and the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games on August 11. “About two-thirds” of them take place during the competition itself, the rest outside. The most tested countries are the United States, France, China, Australia and Great Britain.

The ITA has also organized a large test several weeks before the Olympics, a very risky period, which means that around 90% of the 10,000 participants close to the Paris Olympics are tested at least once. During this period, about forty anti-doping rule violations were recorded.

Up to 10 years of delayed diagnosis

So far, the ITA has found five anti-doping rule violations based on the results of samples taken during Paris 2024. At the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, six positive cases were found. The athletes in question are temporarily suspended, meaning immediate exclusion from any competition during the Games. Their cases are then referred to the anti-doping section of the Court of Arbitration for Sport and their respective associations (or the ITA acting on their behalf) before a final decision.

The physical control system depends on many parameters: the specific pedagogy of sports (sports, swimming, weight lifting, cycling, cycling, are among the most tested procedures because they are considered as he is most at risk for the act of doping), individual data relating to athletes as well as risk levels specific to each country. All guided by the recommendations of the ITA Paris 2024 expert group.

Samples collected during the two weeks of the competition and those collected during the six months preceding the event will be stored in the ITA’s central long-term archive (known as CLTSF) for a period of time decade. They will be selected for review by ITA at a later date, “if and when technological or scientific developments allow more advanced analytical methods”definitely OUTSIDE.

For its part, the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) announced on Thursday that“on two occasions, he pooled all his investigative powers to support the ITA in joint investigations”. One of these two investigations targeted the Algerian athletics coach Amar Benida and the 800-meter bronze medalist, Djamel Sedjati, and led to a search in the Olympic village by the gendarmes responsible for the fight against doping. Nothing has leaked since. The AFLD is part of the anti-doping program for the Paris Olympics under the authority of the ITA.

update: at 5:45 pm with the AFLD press release.