July 28, (THEWILL) – Cynthia Ogunsemilore, a 22-year-old Nigerian boxer, has been provisionally suspended from the Paris 2024 Olympics following a failed drug test. The International Testing Agency (ITA) detected furosemide, a banned diuretic and masking agent, in an out-of-competition sample collected on July 25.
Ogunsemilore, who won gold at the 2024 African Games and bronze at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, was set to make her Olympic debut in the 60kg lightweight division. Her scheduled fight against Shih Yi Wu of Chinese Taipei on Monday, will not take place.
This marks the second consecutive Olympics where a Nigerian athlete has been suspended for doping, following sprinter Blessing Okagbare’s positive test in Tokyo 2020.
Nigeria’s participation in the Paris Olympics was already under scrutiny due to allegations by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), that the country’s anti-doping agency is non-compliant with regulations. The case is currently being examined by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Ogunsemilore has the right to appeal the test result, but any decision is unlikely to come before her scheduled Olympic bout.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
