Doping control and fair powerlifting
Doping control is an uncomfortable topic in powerlifting and bodybuilding, because it touches results, reputation and honesty all at once. The question isn’t only who gets caught. It’s what kind of sport we are building in Estonia.
Why is doping control needed at all?
I believe many powerlifters and bodybuilders have asked themselves at least once: what’s the point of all this? Let everyone do as they please. Especially in disciplines where the participation base isn’t large to begin with, testing can feel like an unnecessary restriction to some.
But here you have to look beyond the gym door. If a sport is built on cheating and concealment, its foundation is rotten. Results may look good on paper, but their value drops quickly once nobody believes they were achieved honestly.
This fall, bodybuilders saw the first fruits of anti-doping work: all the samples were negative. You can always argue about whether the athletes were really clean, but officially you have to go by what the test results showed. That is the basis of a fair system.
Doping control in Estonian powerlifting
This fall, doping control is coming to powerlifters too. For the first time in the history of Estonian powerlifting, testing is planned at the bench press championships in Saue. The very idea has already made athletes uneasy.
People have been saying the fields will now get much thinner. Perhaps they will, for a while. But honestly, that’s better than a sport where everyone knows that some results don’t come from training alone, yet nobody wants to talk about it.
For young athletes this is especially important. In the gym, lines like “you won’t get anywhere without chemicals” or “everyone who’s serious is on something” spread easily. Talk like that can warp a young person’s thinking before they even understand what they are doing to their body.
Yes, in the end the choices are voluntary. But would you want someone to influence your child that way? To sell them the idea that honest training leads nowhere? The same goes for older athletes who have grown used to believing that results only come when you’re “on a cycle”.
How does fair sport work?
In Estonia it can seem that we do whatever we like within our own small circle. Some athletes even say they never plan to go international. So why restrict them?
The simple truth: rules give a result its meaning. If we appointed blind people as referees in powerlifting, they would pass every attempt, because they couldn’t see what is actually happening. Nobody would need to watch squat depth or whether the butt comes off the bench in the bench press. Everyone would seem satisfied, until one day referees come along who can really see.
The same logic applies to doping. Without testing, the audience, the supporter or a fellow competitor can’t be sure what a result really shows. Strength, consistency and technique? Or concealment?
The Estonian Powerlifting Federation doesn’t need to fear talk of alternative leagues. That idea has been floating around in certain circles for a long time: let’s create a league where everyone can compete and anything goes. But the Estonian Powerlifting Federation is a member of the IPF, the International Powerlifting Federation, and the EOC, the Estonian Olympic Committee. That also means passing on the principles of fair sport.
Doping control and the sport’s reputation
Last year, IPF national federations carried out a total of 1929 doping tests, and only 53 of them were positive. These numbers show that a lot of work is being done around the world too. Prevention is especially important: an athlete has to know the rules apply before they make the wrong choice.
In Estonia, too, there is no point in compromising on this. If a sport wants to be taken seriously, it has to be as clean and transparent as possible. Athletes choose the path they take. Supporters likewise choose whom they back.
There are plenty of examples around the world where even an athlete merely suspected of doping loses supporters. That isn’t just a punishment. It’s a loss of trust. Once trust is gone, no medal or record can save you.
What can coaches and athletes do?
Most depends on coaches and on the sport’s general mentality. A coach’s word carries a lot of weight for a young athlete. When a coach talks about honest training, recovery, technique and patience, the athlete starts to see those values as normal too.
A good example came recently from Järvamaa. Mr. Margus Silbaum, the secretary general of the Powerlifting Federation, went there to open a new gym. The place was packed, and 120-130 of the people there wanted to come and compete. So you can’t say there are no recreational lifters. They simply have to be found in the gyms, brought to competitions, and encouraged to promote fair sport among themselves.
Does fair testing shrink the sport’s participation base? Maybe for a moment. In the longer run it makes the sport stronger. A small but trustworthy competition is better than a long list of results that nobody takes seriously.
Doping control: FAQ
Does doping control scare recreational lifters away?
It may keep some people away, but that isn’t necessarily bad. A competition should attract those who want to measure themselves against others under fair rules.
Does someone who only competes in Estonia need to worry about testing?
If you compete under the federation’s rules, the principle of fair sport applies in Estonia too. Competing internationally is not the only reason to stay clean.
What does doping control do for young athletes?
It sends a clear message: you get strong through training, technique and time. Young people don’t have to believe the myth that progress requires banned substances.
Source: https://powerlifting.ee/
Source: WHO – physical activity.
Come and train! ArtGym
