According to NOC Media Officer Tony Nezianya, Nigerian boxer Cynthia Ogunsemilore was asked to leave the Olympic Games Village in Paris 2024 after being unable to demonstrate her innocence in a doping case. Nezianya shared this information with PUNCH Sports Extra on Wednesday.
The International Testing Agency had previously reported that Ogunsemilore had tested positive for furosemide, a banned diuretic, during an out-of-competition doping control conducted on Thursday.
Nezianya informed our correspondent, “She departed the Games Village yesterday (Tuesday). She will be returning to Nigeria and has been instructed to leave France.”
He added, “She was asked to vacate the Games Village in compliance with the directive. Additionally, certain items were retrieved from her; including a Samsung phone, an accreditation tag, and other belongings were handed back to the IOC.”
In response to Ogunsemilore’s assertions that the test was conducted unfairly, Nezianya stated, “Those statements should have been presented to the IOC, but she failed to provide them. They only start blaming the procedures when caught. Her signature was on the results, indicating her consent to the procedures that were followed.”
Nezianya further remarked, “She was accused of using drugs but was unable to provide evidence to the contrary.”
On July 28, the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s Anti-Doping Division upheld Ogunsemilore’s provisional suspension, which will remain effective throughout the duration of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The athlete, who won a bronze medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and is a champion of the African Games, was slated to compete against Taiwan’s Wu Shih Yi in a round of 16 bout on Tuesday. However, her suspension resulted in a victory for Shih Yi.