Jesse Marunde's Death: Troubling Questions About Steroids in World's Strongest Man, By: Michael David Smith

August 3, 2007

The death of Jesse Marunde, a 27-year-old World’s Strongest Man competitor who collapsed during a workout last month, was tragic to his many friends and relatives in the Seattle area, and the Seattle Times has a good article today about how he's being remembered.

But any remembrance of Marunde needs to ask tough questions about what role steroids played in his death. The Seattle Times reports:

In the interim, speculation swirls. Marunde pleaded guilty in Montana in 2000 to criminal possession of anabolic steroids Sustanon and Nandrolone decanoate. In a 2003 Pacific Northwest magazine story, Marunde said he purchased the steroids for a friend, but had told detectives they were for personal use so they would charge him with a misdemeanor. He claimed to have never used steroids.

No one could credibly suggest that the enormous men who compete in World's Strongest Man get that enormous without using performance-enhancing drugs. And when a competitor drops dead at 27, no one could credibly suggest that we should ignore questions about his own performance-enhancing drug use just because those questions make his friends and relatives uncomfortable.

I e-mailed a spokesman from IMG, the company that owns World's Strongest Man, to inquire about the competition's drug testing policies and whether Marunde's death has led to any internal discussions about those policies. I have not received a reply.