Modern Steroids had it roots on Bodybuilders (weightlifters to be precise)

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Modern Steroids had it roots on Bodybuilders (weightlifters to be precise)

Posted On : Aug-21-2009 | seen (621) times | Article Word Count : 523 |

Has anyone ever wondered when and how steroids got into the sporting world? It’s interesting to know that steroids were first discovered to have a profound improvement on weightlifters in the mid 1950s. From no other than the Soviets.

Could it be by accident?

The 1954 World Weightlifting Championship held in Vienna revealed some insights on why the Soviet weightlifters totally outclassed the competition, breaking several world records in the sport and as expected, winning gold medals in all the weight classes. There was this anecdotal account that a certain Dr. John Ziegler, the US weightlifter team physician, got his Soviet counterpart drunk in a bar after the competition and got him to confess the secret to the Soviet’s dominance in the sport. The good doctor revealed he had his weightlifters injected with testosterone during training and before the competition.

That anecdote created the spark that would ignite the western world on its quest to defeat Soviet dominance in just about all the major sporting events. The US contingent returned home and the western sporting world was never the same again. Here are some chronological highlights on the use of steroids thereafter:

• In 1956, the giant pharmaceutical firm CIBA created a synthesized testosterone said to have strength enhancing quality superior to testosterone called methandrostenolone or more popularly, Dianabol. The following year, Dianabol tablets ended up in Ziegler’s weightlifting team that catapulted them to every major event in the US.

• The years after that saw a number of tests conducted to confirm that steroids have enhancing effects on athletes. They were not conclusive. But this did not prevent the Internal Olympic Council (IOC) to ban anabolic steroids. By 1975, almost all sporting organization worldwide had banned the substance.

• In 1972, the IOC launched its formal drug-testing regimen for Olympic athletes. By 1982, the IOC had perfected steroid testing known as the "Testosterone: Epitestosterone test". It compared testosterone levels with that of epitestosterone, and if the testosterone levels are six times more epitestosterone level, it can be concluded that testosterone was administered to the athlete. That is because testosterone is never more than six times that of natural epitestosterone found in the body.

• During this period, contingents form the German Democratic Republic (GDR) has been pummeling US and Soviet athletes because they knew how to get around the tests. The IOC seemed always one step behind them.

• Until 1989, when news about the GDR government-sponsored anabolic steroid training regimen and concealment was leaked to western media. In the succeeding years, the GDR athletes were eventually caught with one scandal after another that finally gave anabolic steroids their notoriety.

The rest is history as they say. Entering the 21st Century, anabolic steroid use is far from over though. A recent clinical study published on the internet found out that the substance is very much alive among weightlifters and bodybuilders, with so sign of abatement. It is ironic that steroids have profound medical benefit for cancer and AIDS patient. But it remains a controlled and banned substance for all sporting events of note.

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<h1>Modern Steroids had it roots on Bodybuilders (weightlifters to be precise)</h1> Author: <a href='http://www.articleseen.com/profile_Michael Smythe.aspx'>Michael Smythe</a> Has anyone ever wondered when and how steroids got into the sporting world? It’s interesting to know that steroids were first discovered to have a profound improvement on weightlifters in the mid 1950s. From no other than the Soviets.

Could it be by accident?

The 1954 World Weightlifting Championship held in Vienna revealed some insights on why the Soviet weightlifters totally outclassed the competition, breaking several world records in the sport and as expected, winning gold medals in all the weight classes. There was this anecdotal account that a certain Dr. John Ziegler, the US weightlifter team physician, got his Soviet counterpart drunk in a bar after the competition and got him to confess the secret to the Soviet’s dominance in the sport. The good doctor revealed he had his weightlifters injected with testosterone during training and before the competition.

That anecdote created the spark that would ignite the western world on its quest to defeat Soviet dominance in just about all the major sporting events. The US contingent returned home and the western sporting world was never the same again. Here are some chronological highlights on the use of steroids thereafter:

• In 1956, the giant pharmaceutical firm CIBA created a synthesized testosterone said to have strength enhancing quality superior to testosterone called methandrostenolone or more popularly, Dianabol. The following year, Dianabol tablets ended up in Ziegler’s weightlifting team that catapulted them to every major event in the US.

• The years after that saw a number of tests conducted to confirm that steroids have enhancing effects on athletes. They were not conclusive. But this did not prevent the Internal Olympic Council (IOC) to ban anabolic steroids. By 1975, almost all sporting organization worldwide had banned the substance.

• In 1972, the IOC launched its formal drug-testing regimen for Olympic athletes. By 1982, the IOC had perfected steroid testing known as the "Testosterone: Epitestosterone test". It compared testosterone levels with that of epitestosterone, and if the testosterone levels are six times more epitestosterone level, it can be concluded that testosterone was administered to the athlete. That is because testosterone is never more than six times that of natural epitestosterone found in the body.

• During this period, contingents form the German Democratic Republic (GDR) has been pummeling US and Soviet athletes because they knew how to get around the tests. The IOC seemed always one step behind them.

• Until 1989, when news about the GDR government-sponsored anabolic steroid training regimen and concealment was leaked to western media. In the succeeding years, the GDR athletes were eventually caught with one scandal after another that finally gave anabolic steroids their notoriety.

The rest is history as they say. Entering the 21st Century, anabolic steroid use is far from over though. A recent clinical study published on the internet found out that the substance is very much alive among weightlifters and bodybuilders, with so sign of abatement. It is ironic that steroids have profound medical benefit for cancer and AIDS patient. But it remains a controlled and banned substance for all sporting events of note.About the Author: BodyShop4Less is a leading supplier of sports supplements and beauty products such as <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.supplementcentre.com/ShopList.asp?cat=511&MainCat=1550">Whey Protein</a> and <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bodyshop4less.co.uk/">Fake Bake</a>. Article Source: <a href='http://www.articleseen.com/Article_Modern-Steroids-had-it-roots-on-Bodybuilders-(weightlifters-to-be-precise)_2548.aspx'> http://www.articleseen.com/Article_Modern Steroids had it roots on Bodybuilders (weightlifters to be precise)_2548.aspx</a>

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