Paris 2024: Olympic debutant tests positive for steroids

An Olympic debutant from Iraq, Sajjad Sehen, has recorded the first positive doping test of Paris 2024 , the (ITA) said on Friday.

In a statement on Friday from International Testing Agency (ITA) Sehen, a judoka, tested positive for the banned anabolic steroids metandienone and boldenone during out-of-competition anti-doping control in Paris on Tuesday, July 23, 2024.

“The athlete has been informed of the case and has been provisionally suspended until the resolution of the matter in line with the World Anti-Doping Code and the IOC Anti-Doping Rules applicable to the Olympic Games Paris 2024,” the statement read.

“This means that the athlete is prevented from competing, training, coaching, or participating in any activity, during the Olympic Games Paris 2024.”

ITA added: “The athlete has the right to challenge the imposition of the provisional suspension before the Court of Arbitration for Sport – Anti-Doping Division (CAS ADD).”

Sehen was scheduled to take part in the men’s 81kg class beginning on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will officially begin with the opening ceremony in the French capital on Friday night.

The Opening Ceremony for this year’s event will be the largest in Games history.

For the first time in the history of the Olympic Summer Games, the Opening Ceremony will not take place in a stadium, as parade of athletes will be held on the famous Seine river with boats for each national delegation.

These boats will be equipped with cameras to allow television and online viewers to see the athletes up close. Winding their way from east to west, the 10,500 athletes will cross through the centre of Paris, the overall playing field for the Games on which these competitors will display their sporting prowess over the next 16 days.

The parade will come to the end of its 6-kilometre route in front of the Trocadéro, where the remaining elements of Olympic protocol and final shows will take place.