The Oly Encyclopedia 11

Fallacy #5: Drug usage is rampant in the sport of weightlifting.

Drug usage pervades our society. Few would disagree that drugs pose a major threat to our culture. Weightlifting is not immune from the influences of the culture around it. Nevertheless, weightlifting has acquired an unfortunate association in the public mind with drug usage, principally because of the presence of a particular kind of drug usage that is common in virtually all sports: the use of anabolic steroids.

There are a number of popular fallacies about anabolic steroids. We will examine just a few. First anabolic steroids are not at least primarily mind altering drugs. They are not taken by serious athletes for their mind altering effects. There is no steroid "high" that corresponds to that of drugs like cocaine or heroin. Second, steroids have no effect on people who do not train for sport you do not become a superman" merely by ingesting anabolic steroids, regardless how much you take or for how long. Third, steroid use does not confer any instant competitive advantage on an athlete. Instead, anabolic steroids have a performance enhancing effect that occurs over time and only in conjunction with the training process. Even those who are training intensely will experience a positive effect from the use of anabolic steroids only if their use is maintained for at least several consecutive weeks, and many months or even years of use are required in order to achieve the full effect of the drug Finally, the health risks attributable to steroid use are not in the same category as those attributable to drugs like heroin and cocaine. To be sure, anabolic steroids have negative health effects effects which should discourage all athletes from using them. However, such effects are on a very different level of magnitude from the negative effects of many "recreational" and "hard" drugs, and those effects have been overstated (at least in relation to any actual scientific evidence) by the media.

With the exception of anabolic steroids, drug use among weightlifters is probably lower than among most other athletes and the weightlifting public at large. Why? One reason is that most athletes who choose the sport of weightlifting do so at least partially because they want to enhance their health and well being through sport. They engage in the sport not only because they enjoy it (although that is a very important motivation), but also because they prefer a sport that is non combative, leads to an aesthetically pleasing level of muscular development, builds high levels of strength and power and challenges the mind and character to the limit. These objectives are not consistent with activities that harm the mind or body.

A second powerful reason why most weightlifters reject drug use is that weightlifting, perhaps more than any other sport, is a measurement sport. Weightlifters are constantly testing themselves against the barbell in a way that measures strength, speed, flexibility and coordination. If you are doing something that is deleterious to your health, it will soon become obvious. When you are competing directly against other athletes in sports like football or wrestling (particularly when competing against other athletes who might also have been out party in it may be difficult to tell whether you are having a good or a bad day, athletes a mistakenly think they are having a good day in spite of the fact that the previous night's activities have hurt their performances, because their competitors have a indulged in activities that have had a active effect on their performance. The bar permits such speculation. It weighs the same amount regardless of how you feel. It is an unrelenting reminder of reality. If you have done something injurious to your mind or your body, the barbell will not let you delude yourself for long.

If weightlifters tend to avoid the use of most drugs, then what about anabolic steroids? Anabolic steroids can have a positive effect on strength Since strength is an asset in most sports, many athletes, not just weightlifters, have resorted to their use. It is not unfair to criticize weightlifting for this fact, but it is unfair to single out weightlifting. This is especially true because weightlifting has been a leader in its advocacy of the elimination of performance enhancing drugs from all sports. The governing body for international weightlifting competition (the International Weightlifting Federation, or "IWF) banned a number of performance enhancing drugs in 1968 and began to test for stimulants (then the prevalent category of performance enhancing drugs) shortly thereafter, long before most other sports even began to address issues of drugs in sports. Extensive anabolic steroid testing began at the 1976 Olympic Games, and testing for steroids. as well as other performance enhancing drugs, has been performed with greater vigor by weightlifting's national and international governing bodies (the United States Weightlifting Federation, which now does business as USA Weightlifting or the "USAW" and the IWF, respectively) than by any other sport. Moreover, the penalties applied by these federations have generally been greater than those recommended by either the United States Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee, the organizations that govern overall Olympic sports.

Why has the eradication of anabolic steroids from weightlifting competition not been accomplished thus far? Very simply, because a method for completely eliminating the advantage of using anabolic steroids in athletic competition has not existed. Until recently, athletes could take the drugs up until several weeks before an event, discontinue their use prior to the event and still perform at an elevated level. Since anabolic steroids take several weeks to several months to deliver their advantage to the user, it also takes an equal period for the performance enhancing effects of these drugs to wear off.

Now a method for greatly reducing anabolic steroid use has been developed. As usual, it has been deployed first within the sport of weightlifting, in particular by the USAW, the sole governing body for weightlifting in the United States In 1990 the USAW began random testing of its athletes several weeks before major competitions, as well as at the competitions themselves. Consequently, any athlete who uses steroids is forced to stop taking them two to three months before any major event in order to pass the random tests. Since major competitions take place every few months, this process makes it difficult for most top athletes to find a period when they would be able to take the drugs without being subject to testing.

More recently, the USAW has gone much further. Now the highest level athletes in the United States must agree to be tested on a random basis throughout the year without any notice. An athlete is merely approached by a representative of the United States Olympic Committee (the organization that performs the drug testing for the USAW) and asked to produce a urine sample. An athlete who has been using anabolic steroids or any other kind of banned drug will not find it possible to mask the presence of that drug or have the drug clear his or her system before the test. US Weightlifters who are caught using steroids in competition or random testing are subject a four year suspension from competition for a first offense and a lifetime suspension for the second offense. Therefore, on a practical level, the advantages of taking anabolic steroids have been virtually eliminated.

Some weightlifting federations in other countries have adopted programs similar to that of the USAW and it is hoped that all other national weightlifting federations will soon follow suit (the IWF has a limited program of worldwide out-of competition testing at present). Once this occurs, steroid usage, by and large, will become a thing of the past for weightlifting competitions. It has already been greatly reduced. For example, there were no weightlifters who were found to be taking any banned substance at the most recent Olympic Games in Atlanta, while some athletes in other sports were found to be doing so.

Testing in weightlifting competition will not eliminate our societal problem with anabolic steroids or with drugs in general. Education is the key to that process. However, testing will assure that weightlifters can compete on an even, drug free, playing field. The champions of weightlifting, the strongest men and women in the world, may once again be drug free. That fact will help to return weightlifting to its deserved position as one of the most highly respected sports worldwide, and its champions will serve as leaders in showing our youth what can be accomplished by hard training and dedication alone. Can any sport do more?

A second powerful reason why most weightlifters reject drug use is that weightlifting, perhaps more than any other sport, is a measurement sport. Weightlifters are constantly testing themselves against the barbell in a way that measures strength, speed, flexibility and coordination. If you are doing something that is deleterious to your health, it will soon become obvious. When you are competing directly against other athletes in sports like football or wrestling (particularly when competing against other athletes who might also have been out partyin it may be difficult to tell whether you are having a good or a bad day, athletes a mistakenly think they are having a good day in spite of the fact that the previous night's activities have hurt their performances, because their competitors have a indulged in activities that have had a seative effect on their performance. The bar permite such speculation. It weighs the same amount regardless of how you feel. It is an unrelenting reminder of reality. If you have done something injurious to your mind or your body, the barbell will not let you delude yourself for long.

If weightlifters tend to avoid the use of most drugs, then what about anabole steroids? Anabolie steroids can have a positive effect on strength Since strength is an asset in most sports, many athletes, not just weightlifters, have resorted to their use. It is not unfair to criticise weightlifting for this fact, but it is unfair to single out weightlifting. This is especially true because weightlifting has been a leader in its advocacy of the elimination of performance enhancing drugs from all sports. The governing body for international weightlifting competition (the International Weightlifting Federation, or "IWF) banned a number of performance enhancing drugs in 1968 and began to test for stimulants (then the prevalent category of performance enhancing drugs) shortly thereafter, long before most other sports even began to address issues of drugs in sports. Extensive anabolic steroid testing began at the 1976 Olympic Games, and testing for steroids. as well as other performance enhancing drugs, has been performed with greater vigor by weightlifting's national and international governing bodies (the United States Weightlifting Federation, which now does business as USA Weightlifting or the "USAW" and the IWF, respectively) than by any other sport. Moreover, the penalties applied by these federations have generally been greater than those recommended by either the United States Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee, the organizations that govern overall Olympic sports.

Why has the eradication of anabolic steroids from weightlifting competition not been accomplished thus far? Very simply, because a method for completely eliminating the advantage of using anabolic steroids in athletic competition has not existed. Until recently, athletes could take the drugs up until several weeks before an event, discontinue their use prior to the event and still perform at an elevated level. Since anabolic steroids take several weeks to several months to deliver their advantage to the user, it also takes an equal period for the performance enhancing effects of these drugs to wear off.

Now a method for greatly reducing anabolic steroid use has been developed. As usual, it has been deployed first within the sport of weightlifting, in particular by the USAW, the sole governing body for weightlifting in the United States In 1990 the USAW began random testing of its athletes several weeks before major competitions, as well as at the competitions themselves. Consequently, any athlete who uses steroids is forced to stop taking them two to three months before any major event in order to pass the random tests. Since major competitions take place every few months, this process makes it difficult for most top athletes to find a period when they would be able to take the drugs without being subject to testing.

More recently, the USAW has gone much further. Now the highest level athletes in the United States must agree to be tested on a random basis throughout the year without any notice. An athlete is merely approached by a representative of the United States Olympic Committee (the organization that performs the drug testing for the USAW) and asked to produce a urine sample. An athlete who has been using anabolic steroids or any other kind of banned drug will not find it possible to mask the presence of that drug or have the drug clear his or her system before the test. US Weightlifters who are caught using steroids in competition or random testing are subject a four year suspension from competition for a first offense and a lifetime suspension for the second offense. Therefore, on a practical level, the advantages of taking anabolic steroids have been virtually eliminated.

Some weightlifting federations in other countries have adopted programs similar to that of the USAW and it is hoped that all other national weightlifting federations will soon follow suit (the IWF has a limited program of worldwide out-ofcompetition testing at present). Once this occurs, steroid usage, by and large, will become a thing of the past for weightlifting competitions. It has already been greatly reduced. For example, there were no weightlifters who were found to be taking any banned substance at the most recent Olympic Games in Atlanta, while some athletes in other sports were found to be doing so.

Testing in weightlifting competition will not eliminate our societal problem with anabolie steroids or with drugs in general. Education is the key to that process. However, testing will assure that weightlifters can compete on an even, drug free, playing field. The champions of weightlifting, the strongest men and women in the world, may once again be drug free. That fact will help to return weightlifting to its deserved position as one of the most highly respected sports worldwide, and its champions will serve as leaders in showing our youth what can be accomplished by hard training and dedication alone. Can any sport do more?