Nearly 90 per cent of all entrants in the Paris Olympics have been tested this year as part of a pre-Games anti-doping programme, the International Testing Agency (ITA) announced on Wednesday.
The ITA stated that it had carried out more than 32,600 doping tests this year, an increase of approximately 45 per cent compared to tests conducted on athletes in the previous six months.
It said the testing led to over 85 cases of potential anti-doping rule violations, resulting in many sanctions and cases that are still ongoing or under review.
The agency said it had focused on 'high-risk disciplines' in which 75 per cent of Olympic entrants had been tested at least three times.
These include weightlifting which accounts for a quarter of positive cases in the history of the Summer Olympics as well as triathlon and open water swimming, where every athlete was tested at least once. Gymnastics follows at 99 per cent.
In track and field which has historically produced the most failed Olympic tests the number is 89 per cent.
ITA statistics indicate that Chinese athletes have been particularly targeted by testers as the doping controversy continues to escalate in Paris.
This follows the revelation in April that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive prior to the Tokyo Games three years ago, but the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) acknowledged that they were victims of food contamination.
The testing agency's statistics for the top 25 national delegations show that 98 per cent of Chinese Olympic competitors have been tested multiple times this year. Only the Authorised Neutral Athletes (AIN) from Russia and Belarus and the Hungarians come close, both at 97 per cent.
World Aquatics said on Tuesday that Chinese swimmers competing in Paris have been tested "on average 21 times each since January 1", compared to six times for the Americans, five for the Italians, four for the Australians, British and French.
ITA's list revealed that the only delegation subjected to 100 per cent testing comprised AIN entrants – consisting of Russians and Belarusians – although, at the latest count, there are only 33 of them.
Meanwhile, only 63 per cent of footballers have been tested.
The global football federation, FIFA, is one of the few international organisations not to have entrusted their anti-doping programme to the ITA.
