Dietary Supplements and Athletes

Strict Liability

Most sports, including all those that are signatories to the World Anti-Doping Code, hold an athlete strictly liable for any prohibited substance which is found in their bodies. The idea is that is does not matter how the banned substance made its way into the athlete's body - the athlete is strictly liable for the presence of that substance. Even if an athlete takes the utmost care in guarding against inadvertent ingestion of a banned substance, he or she may still be found to have committed a doping offense if such a substance is found in his or her body.

Athletes have been unsuccessful in their claims that since a mislabeled dietary supplement was the source of their positive test they should be found innocent of a doping offense. Therefore, athletes must be extremely careful about what they put into their bodies. While no testing program can provide 100% assurance (as discussed here), a program based on quality science can provide the highest level of assurance possible that a product is clean.

Policies of Sport Authorities

Sport authorities vary considerably in their policies toward the use of supplements. Many within the anti-doping world take a 'just say no' approach and urge athletes to eschew the use of any dietary supplements, including vitamins, amino acids, and protein supplements. Many athletes feel that this is an unrealistic approach as these supplements are a vital part of their training regimen. This 'just say no' approach also ignores the fact that most manufacturers within the dietary supplement industry are responsible, honest, and legitimately concerned about the reputation of their industry amidst the media attention given to athletes who blame supplements (often falsely) for their positive tests.