ITA Updates Tokyo 2020 Doping Test Data: Just 6 positives out of 4,255 Tested

The International Testing Agency (ITA), the agency responsible for conducting doping control tests for international competition, has released more data on its testing from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics this past summer. The agency reports that it collected 6,200 samples from a total of 4,255 athletes throughout the Games.

In its release on the report, ITA said that “more than one-third of the participating athletes were subject to at least one doping control.” Out of the 4,255 athletes tested, there have only been 6 positive tests from Tokyo athletes.

Great Britain’s C.J. Ujah’s positive test was confirmed on Tuesday. Ujah competed on the BGR men’s 4x100m relay, which won the Silver medal. The additional testing yielded results that confirm the presence of unauthorized anabolic agents in his system, and therefore Ujah may be facing up to a 4-year ban. Additionally, it’s highly likely at this point that Great Britain will have to forfeit their Silver medal in the event. If Ujah gets handed a 4-year ban, that would exclude him from having the opportunity to compete at the 2024 Olympic in Paris, which are just 3 years away.

According to the ITA, the testing is conducting on a targeted basis, so that the most likely medalists receive testing. The U.S., China, Great Britain, Russia, and Australia received the most tests, while athletics, aquatics, cycling, rowing, and weightlifting were the sports that had the highest number of athletes tested.

The ITA was created in 2018 with coordination from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), in order to create an independent testing agency. WADA and the IOC decided on the need to institute an independent doping agency after a discovery that Russia had instituted a systemic state-sponsored doping program, allegedly with the assistance of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA).