Nigerian boxer Ogunsemilore fails a drug test at the Olympics

Cynthia Ogunsemilore, a lightweight boxer from Nigeria, tested positive for a prohibited substance on Saturday, one day before her Olympic debut. As a result, she has been placed under provisional suspension.

The 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist and African Games champion tested positive for furosemide, a diuretic on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s forbidden list, in an out-of-competition doping control taken on Thursday, according to the International Testing Agency, which released the results on Saturday.

On its website, the ITA stated, “The athlete has been informed of the case and has been provisionally suspended until the matter is resolved in line with the World Anti-Doping Code and the International Olympic Committee Anti-Doping Rules.”

Ogunsemilore’s ban prevents him from competing, coaching, preparing, or taking part in any other activities during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

She was supposed to fight Taiwan’s Wu Shih Yi on Tuesday in a round of sixteen match.

Ogunsemilore has the right, according to the ITA, to request a study of her B-sample and to contest the temporary suspension before the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s Anti-Doping Division.

Due to this situation, Nigeria’s boxing team is now even smaller, with Adam Olaore the only member still fighting for a medal.

Days before the Games, Dolapo Omole, the third Nigerian boxer to qualify for the Olympics, was forced to withdraw from competition due to injury.

On Sunday, or today, at 10:48 am, Olaore will take on Aibeck Oralbay of Kazakhstan in the first preliminary round of his medal chase.

Although boxing has historically been one of Nigeria’s strongest Olympic sports, the nation’s results have declined recently. The last time Nigeria earned an Olympic boxing medal was in Atlanta in 1996.