Knowing which type of event you’re getting into in advance could save you from experiencing disappointment at the end of your competition journey. After all the time, training, dieting, and hard-earned money you invest in contest preparation, would you rather compete in a contest where other competitors haven’t used banned substances for the past few days, the past few weeks, past several years or never at all?
Natural? Drug-Free? Drug-Tested?. Why are three different terms for trying to convey fair events (meaning people who are and have been drug-free for years)? They’re often used interchangeably referring to the same thing, but they can all mean different things depending an organization’s drug testing policies, procedures, and guidelines.
Did you know that only urine testing athletes on the day an event takes place makes it possible for people to cheat? When participants know ahead of time when they will be tested (on the day of the event), a urine test can be passed rather easily despite recent drug use. Some oral anabolic steroids can be used all the way up to as little as only few days before an event and not be detected in a urine sample collected on the day of the contest. Masking agents can also be used to “beat” a urine test when it’s known when a sample will be collected. The majority of injectable steroids clear an individual’s system and are no longer detectable in urine within a few weeks from last use. Standard sports urine testing panels don’t screen for human growth hormone, and the half life of HGH in blood samples is just a few hours! Basically, someone could use banned substances all the way up to and through an event, yet not test positive. Are these situations you would consider to be drug-free competitions? These scenarios are the reason why OCB utilizes pre-competition drug test screening and implements year around random testing of athletes in addition to urine testing.
Some may argue that polygraph tests (read all about how the polygraph test works), also known as ‘lie detector tests,’ are imperfect, but they are effective tools to deter cheaters, and screen and detect for prior use of banned substances. OCB utilizes pre-competition drug test screenings of all athletes prior to stage, and performs urine testing on all pro-qualifying placement winners and cash prize winners at all contests. In attempts to broaden effectiveness and thoroughness of a drug testing program, OCB is implementing year-round random urine testing for pros starting in 2020 (once certain practices have been finalized to enable doing so in a fair manner where all have equal chance of being selected). Unanticipated urine testing is much more likely to identify individuals using banned substances than testing on days athletes are expecting to be tested is. Know what you’re getting into with contests simply marketed as being “natural, drug-free, or drug-tested”. And please, do your part as a truly natural competitor and help spread awareness to other competitors to avoid potential disappointment by participating in contests marketed as being “natural, drug-free, or drug-tested” when some of those shows could really be far from being those things
