Nigerian boxer Cynthia Ogunsemilore was removed from the women’s competition at the Paris 2024 Olympics after testing positive for an anti-doping drug, the International Testing Agency announced on Saturday.
The 22-year-old lightweight champion of the African Games tested positive for the diuretic furosemide, according to the ITA, in a sample obtained on Thursday. Furosemide is one masking agent that can conceal the presence of other drugs.
Ogunsemilore handed provisional suspension from Paris 2024 Olympics
Ogunsemilore is temporarily suspended and is not permitted to compete in the Olympics, according to the ITA.
As the fourth-seeded boxer in the women’s 60-kilogram (132-pound) class, she was scheduled to contest on Monday in the round of 16.
Ogunsemilore was third in her weight class at the 2022 Commonwealth Games after winning the African Games title the previous year.
This is the second positive doping test that has been disclosed at the Paris Olympics. Sajjad Sehen, an Iraqi judoka, tested positive for two anabolic steroids, the ITA said on Friday.
Meanwhile, Sports Buddy reported in other news that former Super Eagles captain John Mikel Obi did not hold back in his criticisms of foreign born players who eventually opt to play for their motherland in Africa, only after initially failing to secure a spot with the teams of European countries, to which they initially pledged allegiance.
