Chen Zhanghao, a former top physician for the Chinese Olympic team, admitted administering performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) to athletes in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper in Australia. He admitted overseeing the use of PEDs, such as anabolic steroids and human growth hormone (hGH), as part of a state-sponsored doping program in China during the 1980s and 1990s. Zhanghao claimed to have experimented with the doping of approximately fifty elite Olympic athletes. [Read more…]
Archives for July 2012
Jul
30
Skinny Barry Bonds Leads to More Steroid Suspicions
An athlete who carries significant muscle mass or has recently gained considerable weight is frequently accused of using anabolic steroids. When Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire bulked up in the years prior to their assault of the single-season homerun record, speculation was rampant that steroids were responsible for the changes in their physiques. So now that Barry Bonds is apparently “skinny” again, the steroid witch-hunters have jumped on the weight loss as further “proof” that Bonds used steroids. [Read more…]
Jul
29
Hysteria Over Anabolic Steroids Leads to Ignorance of More Dangerous Corticosteroids
The hysteria over anabolic steroids has kept sportswriters and journalists busy writing about the topic on a regular basis. At least one new article about anabolic steroids and/or performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) has been in the news practically every day for the past five years. Most articles usually include a list of side effects associated with steroids. Regrettably, most articles have an anti-steroid bias that leads to the exaggeration and overstatement of the anabolic steroids side effects. [Read more…]
Jul
28
New Bill Gives DEA Ability to Go After Illegal Synthetic Steroids in Supplements
Many sports supplement companies have been illegally selling synthetic steroids as dietary supplements for several years. This has not been limited to a few bad actors in the industry. The practice has been widespread. Contrary to the popular perception that the supplement industry is “unregulated”, the industry has been tightly regulated by the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) for 18 years. DSHEA has explicitly made it illegal for supplement company to sell synthetic steroids as dietary ingredients. So, why have companies been blatantly doing this for almost a decade? [Read more…]
Jul
26
Polygraph Testing for Anabolic Steroids in “Natural” Bodybuilding Contest
The International Natural Bodybuilding Federation (INBF) was created to provide “natural bodybuilders” with the option to compete against athletes who do not use anabolic steroids, human growth hormone (hGH) or any other muscle-building drugs prohibited by the INBF. As with all athletic competitions, there have always been people that don’t play by the rules. In spite of the fact that most bodybuiding contests tacitly allow the use of steroids and don’t test for steroids, some steroid-using bodybuilders still insist on trying to gain an advantage in bodybuilding competitions specifically designated for “drug-free” bodybuilders. [Read more…]
Jul
25
Pete Rose Doesn’t Know What a Steroid Looks Like
Pete Rose, the former Major League Baseball player, was asked about the prospect of players from baseball’s so-called “steroid era” being inducted into the Hall of Fame. Next year Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa will become eligible for the Hall. But all have been linked to the use of steroids and performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). The big question that has unfortunately been on the minds of sports writers is whether suspected steroid users should be elected. [Read more…]
Jul
24
Randy Couture Talks Steroids and TRT in MMA
Randy Couture has expressed his support of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) for athletes participating in mixed-martial arts (MMA) competition in an interview with Steph Daniels for the ‘Bloody Elbow’ website. The use of TRT in MMA has caused considerable controversy. After all, testosterone is an anabolic steroid and steroids are banned in most sports due to their well-established muscle-building and performance-enhancing effects. Several MMA athletes have admitted using testosterone as part of a medically-supervised treatment for hypogonadism. [Read more…]
Jul
23
WWE and Republican Senate Candidate Linda McMahon Accused of Promoting Steroid Use
Linda McMahon has been working hard to reinvent herself as a credible political candidate. She has had a difficult time escaping the scandals involving anabolic steroids that have plagued World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) throughout its history. And her opponents have never missed an opportunity to highlight the steroid problems associated with WWE. [Read more…]
Jul
22
Wade Boggs Doesn’t Want Steroid Users in the Hall of Fame
An apparently popular source of “news” for sports writers seems to be interviewing retired Major League Baseball players and asking for their thoughts on the sport’s “steroid era”. The money question is whether or not baseball players linked to anabolic steroids should be allowed into the Hall of Fame. Reggie Jackson, Goose Gossage, Mike Piazza (if his wife is to be believed), Dave Henderson, George Brett, Curt Schilling and Morgan Ensberg have been vocal in their opposition to anabolic steroids. Now, a local CBS radio station decided to obtain the opinion of Wade Boggs. [Read more…]
Jul
21
Steroid Testing Results in Ban of Top Olympic Weightlifters from “Average Broz’s Gymnasium”
The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has banned two top Olympic weightlifters from “Average Broz’s Gymnasium” in Las Vegas, Nevada. Patrick Mendes and Joshua Gilbert have been banned by the anti-steroid organization after testing positive for prohibited substances. Neither athlete tested positive for anabolic steroids which are often associated with sports involving power and strength. However, many non-steroidal drugs also have performance-enhancing effects and/or are used to mask the use of anabolic steroids. [Read more…]
