Eighty-Year Old Weightlifter Tests Positive for Steroids at 2013 Pan American Masters
Eighty-Year Old Weightlifter Tests Positive for Steroids at 2013 Pan American Masters
Eighty-year old Don Ramos dominated his age group and weight class at the 2013 Pan American Masters Weightlifting Championships in Chicago on June 14, 2013. But waiting in the bathroom after the competition was a steroid testing officer from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). The USADA urine collector took a sample from Ramos. The sample later test positive for the presence of anabolic steroids.
Unfortunately for Ramos, the competition was sanctioned by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF). And the IWF has adopted the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code which prohibits the use of anabolic steroids and a variety of other performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). USADA is the national drug testing organization responsible for enforcing the WADA code in the United States.
USADA released a statement announcing that Ramos “tested positive for the presence of a steroid of exogenous origin” and had been suspended for two years. Ramos accepted the suspension without a fight. The specific steroid found in his sample was not disclosed. However, the steroid in question was most likely “testosterone.”
Several masters athletes have been busted using testosterone even as part of a medically-supervised testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) protocol. Having a doctor prescribe testosterone for a legitimate case of age-related hypogonadism is not sufficient to escape the wrath of the anti-steroid police. WADA allows the use of certain steroids but only if the athlete submits acceptable documentation that justifies the issuance of a therapeutic use exemption (TUE). Without a TUE, even doctor-supervised TRT is prohibited.
Steroids or no steroids, few people would fail to be impressed by the accomplishments of Ramos. The 80-year old recorded lifts of 132 pounds (60 kilograms) and 160 pounds (73 kilograms) in the snatch and in the clean and jerk, respectively, at a bodyweight of 187 pounds (85 kilograms). Not bad for an 80-year old.
USADA has had limited success stopping steroid use and PED use among elite athletes in most sports. But it must take satisfaction in its ability to crack down on steroid use among geriatric athletes. USADA has suspended at least nine masters-aged athletes in the past two years. Most of them were in their 50s and 60s.
To have stopped an 80-year from using steroids must represent a proud moment for USADA. Ramos may be the oldest steroid-using athlete to have been thwarted by USADA. Take note senior citizens. Being old is no excuse. Taking steroid to compete in sports during the twilight years will gain no sympathy from USADA. No one is safe from the anti-steroid police at USADA.
Source:
USADA. (August 30, 2013). US Weightlifting Athlete, Ramos, Accepts Sanction For Anti-Doping Rule Violation. Retrieved from //www.usada.org/media/sanction-ramos8301
