‘A win-at-all-costs mentality is enough motivation to cheat’
Doping is now endemic in amateur fitness and athletics events, according to one of Scotland’s most prominent competitors.
Lez Stelmachowski, who competes and fields teams in a range of international competitions, said the use of anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing drugs, including EPO (erythropoietin) and Ritalin, are so widespread, they are making a mockery of the sports.
The owner of Leithbased Fitness Soul, said the lack of any enforced testing or rigorous monitoring at high profile, global amateur competitions such as CrossFit and HYROX allows drugged athletes to enter with impunity.
He said the shape and build of athletes competing in triathlons, ironman competitions and endurance races has changed in recent years in a way that can only be achieved by using performance enhancing drugs (PEDs).
Dr Katinka van de Ven, who has conducted several studies on doping in amateur sport, said that there is a lack of awareness of the full extent of the use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) by amateur athletes but that research suggests it may involve up to 70 per cent of high level performers.
Stelmachowski, 41, who recently led a team at a HYROX fitness event in Dublin and who is also part of a group of swimmers bidding to cross the English Channel later this year, said there is an urgent need for enforced regulation to protect the integrity of amateur sport as well as the health of athletes.
Some countries, including Belgium, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, have adopted measures similar to those used in elite sports, employing drug testing and surveillance for everyday gym-goers. Those testing positive may face sanctions comparable to professional athletes.
Stelmachowski said: “While there is no testing in place, you need only look at some athletes to know they haven’t achieved their super-veiny, muscular physiques by following an online programme or adhering to a strict diet. Not in three or six months, or even a year.
“If you compare the bodies of Olympic athletes with some of the top CrossFit or HYROX athletes, you'll notice something interesting – they appear rather average.
“That is because Olympic competitors can’t take performance-enhancing drugs, but for internet influencers and hybrid athletes, there are no such limits.
“They chase better physiques, more muscles, and mind-bending strength and endurance, all of which help them amass a massive following and gain traction.”
The last significant study of doping in amateur sport was carried out in 2017 by the BBC, which interviewed 1,025 members of sports clubs, teams, or gyms aged 18 or over in the UK.
It found that 26 per cent of respondents said they had previously used prescribed medications like Cortisone injections or asthma inhalers to enhance their performance in sports, while 14 per cent admitted to using recreational drugs, with 8 per cent confessing to taking anabolic steroids. Some 35 per cent said they knew of someone who had doped to boost their sporting performance or to aid recovery.
While the majority of participants engage in sports for enjoyment and physical well-being, numbers using PEDs have rocketed in the past five years, according to Stelmachowski, who runs Fitness Soul with his wife and fellow amateur athlete, Joanna Weintritt. Neither has ever used PEDs.
A growing number are resorting to misuse of painkillers, vitamin injections, and asthma medications to enhance their energy levels or to augment oxygen supply to muscles.
EPO, known for boosting the oxygen-carrying capacity of red blood cells and famously associated with US drugs cheat Lance Armstrong, is now used widely in amateur sports, he said.
That, and human growth hormones, steroids, and testosterone, can all be obtained within minutes through online channels, according to Stelmachowski.
Some amateur athletes also engage in “brain doping”, using prescription drugs like amphetamines, modafinil, or methylphenidate to improve their attention, focus, and mental alertness during lengthy endurance challenges.
He said: “I’m not here to pass judgment on their choices. It’s their bodies, and they have the autonomy to decide how to treat them. However, it does raise ethical concerns when they use their artificially enhanced bodies to promote their businesses without disclosing the shortcuts they've taken.
“We’re living in peculiar times where extremes tend to sell. As consumers, let’s at least demand transparency and honesty, allowing people to make informed choices in this bewildering landscape.”
HYROX combines running with functional workout stations, where participants run for one kilometre and then do a workout station, repeated eight times. Launched in 2017, competitions have been held in 30 cities in 11 countries.
A spokesman said: “HYROX has a strict antidoping policy which can be reviewed in the rule book (page 10) and does not accept the use of any PEDs.”
CrossFit runs programmes and competitions all over the world. The annual CrossFit Open competition involves thousands of competitors who can represent themselves, their gym, or their country.
Competitors can opt in or out of the organisation’s drug testing policy at any time throughout the season. The organisation was approached but declined to comment.