Steroids Currently Being Used by Weightlifters in the Olympics?

[Optimus]

Steroids help but anyone who thinks some hormones are the reason Koklaev pulled 400kg for a set of 4 has A. Never taken them.. or B. Absolutely unrealistic expectations about the strength gains that can be obtained with even downright year-round PED abuse. *They're are lots of very weak gym rats blasting doses that would make Olympians cringe and most of these bros think a 315lb deadlift is strong. *We are weak. Klokov strict presses 170kg and we have people in the U.S. still arguing about presses slowing down your jerks. *Are some guys naturally strong/explosive enough to reach the top without getting their squats, presses, and dead-lifts strong? Absolutely, but using these guys training programs as a way to mimic their success *is the equivalent of you using Jay Cutlers latest leg extension protocol to build your quads while conveniently forgetting the fact he squatted 700 in his early twenties, has the muscle building genetics of a fucking mammoth and could probably not even train while maintaining quads that you would only dream of after 20 years of correct training. *Any current U.S. Olympic weightlifter wether using or abstaining from drugs will be competitive by the next olympics if he would take his squat, press, and dead-lift to 700, 350, 800. *

[MarkusD]

USADA/NAN is certainly not responsible for our 35th placing. And if our top lifters are not getting away with using PED, this makes them less clever than the top lifters of the countries whose lifters are using PEDs, since all are tested in international competition. Do you think our lifters are not clever?

I agree that USADA/NAN is not responsible for our 35th placing, hence my earlier posts about North and Shankle. As for PEDs, I think getting tested in competition vs out of competition NAN testing are two different beasts. I think our lifters could be clever enough to get around competition testing but I do not know how US lifters can get around the NAN program if they are already enrolled in it.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Maybe the difference is not who is more or less clever. Maybe it is the fact that we have an internal doping control (USADA) which is very aggressive in trying to catch people using drugs, while other countries have internal doping control which is a little more friendly. Maybe even friendly enough to actively help the athletes beat the competition tests?

You know about WADA, right? Has the IWF stopped testing?

[3rdWorldSquat]

You know about WADA, right? Has the IWF stopped testing?

WADA is not an internal doping agency. They are not showing up at athletes' homes unannounced during the week.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Has the IWF stopped testing international competitions?

[RickL]

Has the IWF stopped testing international competitions?

I had assumed you knew the difference between being on the NAN program under the jurisdiction of USADA, and lifting in say, Iran, and just having to show up for competition clean. Maybe that was a bad assumption.

[Mark Rippetoe]

I had assumed you understood my point. Is USA Weightlifting the only organization under the scrutiny of USADA? A quick review of the past two weeks activities should reveal whether any of the other NGBs have been similarly hamstrung, and whether their athletes have successfully coped.

[RickL]

I had assumed you understood my point. Is USA Weightlifting the only organization under the scrutiny of USADA? A quick review of the past two weeks activities should reveal whether any of the other NGBs have been similarly hamstrung, and whether their athletes have successfully coped.

It should be obvious to you that since weightlifting has the largest strength component of any Olympic sport, and steroids affect strength, that the elimination of the ability to take steroids will harm weightlifters more than any other sport when competing against athletes who do have the capability to use them.

[MarkusD]

I had assumed you understood my point. Is USA Weightlifting the only organization under the scrutiny of USADA? A quick review of the past two weeks activities should reveal whether any of the other NGBs have been similarly hamstrung, and whether their athletes have successfully coped.

That is a good point. How is it that other organizations such as Track ad Field who are also under USADA able to get away with doping? I am very curious to hear your throughts on this.

[AriSuper]

... and lifting in say, Iran, and just having to show up for competition clean. Maybe that was a bad assumption.

Are you trying to say that the US have stricter laws than an semi radical full out religious non secular country like Iran?