The International Testing Agency announced on Friday that Sajad Ghanem, a 28-year-old Olympic judo competitor from Iraq, has tested positive for two anabolic steroids during the Paris Olympics.
This makes Ghanem the first athlete at these games to fail a doping test. The substances identified in the test taken on Tuesday in Paris were methandienone and boldenone.
Ghanem, who was scheduled to start competing next Tuesday, has been provisionally suspended pending a disciplinary hearing.
The International Testing Agency, which manages the anti-doping program for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) during the games, stated that the provisional suspension bars the athlete from competing, training, coaching others, or participating in any activities during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Ghanem was set to compete in the men’s 81-kilogram weight class, beginning in the round of 32 against a competitor from Uzbekistan next Tuesday.
Tunisian wrestler Amine Guenichi will miss the Paris 2024 Olympics after receiving a four-year doping suspension from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), a Tunisian federation official disclosed to Reuters on Wednesday.
Guenichi had previously secured a gold medal at last year’s Arab Games in the men’s Greco-Roman 130kg category.
According to Montaser Obaidi, the technical director of the Tunisian federation, Guenichi was penalized for intentionally avoiding compliance with anti-doping officials.
In November, when testers arrived at his room in the elite training center, he did not open his door and only provided a urine sample after several hours, which tested negative. Subsequent blood tests also returned negative results.
