Doping practices in international weightlifting: analysis of sanctioned athletes/support personnel from 2008 to 2019 and retesting of samples from the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games

Abstract

Background: The pervasiveness of doping and findings of anti-doping corruption threaten weightlifting's position at the 2024 Olympic Games. Analysing the practices of doping in weightlifters could identify patterns in doping that assist in future detection.

Methods: We analysed publicly available data on sanctioned athletes/support personnel from the International Weightlifting Federation between 2008 and 2019 and announced retrospective Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) from the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.

Results: There were 565 sanctions between 2008 and 2019 of which 82% related to the detection of exogenous Anabolic Androgenic Steroid (AAS) metabolites and markers indicating endogenous AAS usage. The detection of exogenous AAS metabolites, markers of endogenous AAS usage and other substance metabolites varied by IWF Continental Federation (p ≤ 0.05) with Europe (74%, 11%, 15%) and Asia (70%, 15%, 15%) showing a higher detection of exogenous AAS compared to Pan America (37%, 30%, 33%) and Africa (50%, 17%, 33%). When looking at the 10 most detected substances, the nations with the highest number of sanctions (range 17-35) all had at least one overrepresented substance that accounted for 38-60% of all detected substances. The targeted re-analysis of samples from the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games due to the discovery of long-term metabolites for exogenous AAS resulted in 61 weightlifters producing retrospective ADRVs. This includes 34 original medallists (9 gold, 10 silver and 15 bronze), the highest of any sport identified by Olympic Games sample re-testing. The exogenous AAS dehydrochloromethyltestosterone and stanozolol accounted for 83% of detected substances and were present in 95% of these samples.

Conclusion: Based on these findings of regional differences in doping practices, weightlifting would benefit from the targeted testing of certain regions and continuing investment in long-term sample storage as the sensitivity and specificity of detection continues to improve.

Fig. 1

The number of sanctions recorded from the IWF Sanction List [21] between 2008 and 2019 when it was accessed in February 2020 and their geographical location. NA indicates zero-recorded sanctions. Five hundred sixty-five sanctions were recorded but 553 were used for the creation of this figure as the following Member Federations (MF) were not present in the country.map dataset in the choroplethrMaps [36] package in R: Puerto Rico (n = 3), Mauritius (n = 2), Palestine (n = 2), Seychelles (n = 2), Aruba (n = 1), Barbados (n = 1) and Bahrain (n = 1)

Fig. 2

The 10 most detected substances from the IWF Sanction List [21] between 2008 and 2019 and if their detection occurred in-competition (IC) or out-of-competition (OOC) with superscript numbers classifying substances based on the WADA 2019 Prohibited List: exogenous Anabolic Androgenic Steroid (AAS)¹, markers indicating endogenous AAS usage (EAAS)², Specified Stimulants³ and Other Anabolic Agents⁴ [30]. Clenbuterol and Methyltestosterone are tied in 10th place with 14 occasions of detection each. One data point for Methandienone was omitted as the testing location was not defined

Fig. 3

The 10 nations with the highest number of sanctions, from the IWF Sanction List [21] between 2008 and 2019 and for the 10 most detected substances the percentage of times they were detected. Other* denotes either Methyltestosterone, Clenbuterol, Metenolone, Oxandrolone, Boldenone, Methylhexanamine or Nandrolone. EAAS, markers indicating endogenous AAS usage. AZE Azerbaijan, KAZ Kazakhstan, RUS Russia, BUL Bulgaria, BLR Belarus, ARM Armenia, UKR Ukraine, ROU Romania, THA Thailand, MDA Moldova

Fig. 4

The number of weightlifters that competed from each nation announced to have given retrospective Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) via Adverse Analytical Findings (AAFs) from the re-testing of samples collected at the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympic Games. Numbers inside the bars show the number of original medallists. Weightlifters with announced retrospective ADRVs who did not start are included. In Beijing 2008, one athlete from UKR produced an AAF from an in-competition sample and is excluded in these counts. CHN China, BLR Belarus, UKR Ukraine, RUS Russia, ARM Armenia, KAZ Kazakhstan, AZE Azerbaijan, TUR Turkey, MDA Moldova, UZB Uzbekistan, UKR Ukraine, ROU Romania, ALB Albania, GEO Georgia

Fig. 5

The 10 nations with the highest number of announced retrospective Anti-Doping Rule Violations via Adverse Analytical Findings from both the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympic Games and the percentages of detected substances identified. Other* denotes either Drostanolone, Erythropoietin, Oxandrolone, Sibutramine or Tamoxifen. GHRP2 Growth Hormone-Releasing Peptide-2, KAZ Kazakhstan, RUS Russia, BLR Belarus, AZE Azerbaijan, ARM Armenia, TUR Turkey, ROU Romania, UKR Ukraine, CHN China, MDA Moldova