The 2009 NABBA Belgium Nationals Bodybuilding Championships were cancelled yesterday after three anti-doping official arrived unannounced to conduct steroid testing. The NABBA Belgium sanctioned bodybuilding championship was to be held at Arsenaal Theater in Vlissingen, Netherlands on Sunday, May 17, 2009. The 20 bodybuilding competitors were reported to have “fled” the auditorium when the steroid testers arrived (“Bodybuilders op de vlucht voor dopingartsen,” May 18).
“I have never seen anything like it and hope never to see anything like it again,” said anti-doping official Hans Cooman… “In the bodybuilding world doping control is necessary because we know that there is a lot of doping going on. The results prove this again and again.”
Cooman said he had no choice but to conclude that all the competitors were using steroids based on their abrupt departure from the venue.
Sometimes sports federations take the initiative and invite us to come by, like the cycling union does. But we have never had an invitation like this from bodybuilders.
Hans Cooman also accused the organizers of the 2009 NABBA Belgian Bodybuilding Championships of moving the competition across the border into The Netherlands in an attempt to avoid Belgian doping officials. Cooman called this attempt futile as Belgian anti-doping are willing to travel to nearby countries to bust athletes and/or solicit the assistance of anti-doping agencies in other countries to catch Belgian bodybuilders (“Bodybuilding championship canceled after competitors flee,” May 18).
Bodybuilding has a long history of doping, and Cooman said this latest flap “didn’t do its reputation any good.”
Last year, 22 of 29 tests were positive, either for steroids or for refusing testing, a failure rate of a staggering 75 percent.
“This was the first time though we turned up in the Netherlands,” Cooman said.
Anabolic steroid use in competitive bodybuilding has largely escaped the scrutiny by law enforcement and anti-doping officials. However, recent steroid arrests by officials in the United States, large scale steroid inquiries in Sweden, and now surprise unannounced steroid testing in Belgium suggests increased interest in bodybuilding.
See also story by 24 Oranges.
About the author
Millard writes about anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs and their use and impact in sport and society. He discusses the medical and non-medical uses of anabolic-androgenic steroids while advocating a harm reduction approach to steroid education.
Hello.
I’m Robert Steiner. I was born in Poland. I’m citizen of New Zealand.
I’ve been successful competitive bodybuilder for many years. I competed mostly in NABBA (in IFBB also). I HAVE NEVER USED STEROIDS OR OTHER PROHIBITED DRUGS to enhance my performance either on a stage or in the gym. Yet I competed (successfully, as I mentioned) unfortunately against competitors showing clearly visual evidence of use of anabolic steroids, synthetic hormones or/and diuretics. I think this is unfair and this appears to be a plague against HEALTHY BODYBUILDING for many many years. Therefore I’m STRONGLY in favour of, or even demanding ANTI-DOPING TESTS prior any NABBA contest in ALL countries -members of NABBA organization, on every level -regional or national; amateur or professional. I realize that drug testing can be an expensive procedure, but at least random tests (during a competition AND at a gym – for competitive bodybuilders) would be good idea and create image of NABBA INTERNATIONAL as drug free federation. Thank you. Robert.