Alexander Karelin and steroids

[Dostoevsky]

Due to my paranoia about athletes and steroids that has been brought about due to the endless MMA positive test results , I am now going through each and every famous athlete I can think off and going through in my mind whether that athlete took drugs or not.

It then came up against Alexander Karelin, arguably the greatest superheavyweight greco-roman wrestler in recorded history.

Just thinking about it for a while made me really think, the guy is 6'3 and weighed in at about 286lbs.
That is just staggering, and its not fat, the guy was ripped...must have been 6% body fat or below, the guy was well defined and HUGE.

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This picture caught my eye, just looking at the size of Karelin compared to Gardner, Gardner himself would have been considered very heavy.

Am I being paranoid? or was Karelin a genuine freak of nature?

[SweetScienceFan]

Steroid testing in the Olympics is pretty vigorous. He is a machine, but never really struck me as someone who just had to be on Steroids.

[Beebs]

If he was on steroids, which I doubt, but its possible, he was using a very minimal amount during very limited cycles, he passed many tests and wouldn't have been able to do so with a free reign to do steroids. Yes there are masking agents, but they are often found, not as often as steroids, but they do get caught, he would have had to have been off cycle for most of his career to get by the olympic anti-doping agencies, who are very good.

[Dostoevsky]

Okay I've been doing further reading up on this, he was never caught in his whole career either at the olympics or the national tournaments, he did weigh 15lbs at birth.......perhaps he was clean, he does seem pretty exceptional.

Heres a very old and interesting article on him:
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[enquirer]

With the help of a doctor,good contacts,politics,money or medical knowledge athletes can beat the drug tests...
The test doesnt test for human growth hormone or insulin...Epo needs a blood test not a urine test....Its easy to cycle off heavy steroids and then go on to water based steroids which are out of your system pretty quick...Masking agents also help to defeat the tests,as well as some doctors helping the athletes by giving them new synthesised drugs which are not on the banned lists or which are undetectable at present....
I suspect most nearly all track and field sprinters,many boxers,tennis players,wrestlers,baseball players,nfl guys,nba guys,combat sports and bodybuilders at the top level take drugs regular in one form or the other....With the athletes its pretty much an open secret....
There are some competitors who are drug free who just work hard and/or have good genetics/talent.....
Many athletes have failed test in all sports,and many have had their positive tests covered up due to politics/money....Drugs are rife in sport at the top level,administrators could either legalise all drugs under medical supervision to level the playing field or have a zero tolerance policy....
Im glad that boxing is a sport where the clean boxer can beat the doped boxer.....A clean weightlifter/bodybuilder has little to no chance of beating his doped counterpart.....

[Donut62]

First off, I don't fucking care. If you don't get caught, you did your job. Secondly, he was a product of the Soviet olympic system. If he was on, he was probably using low amounts for recovery purposes. Oral turinabol was/is super popular for that, most Soviet athletes would use 20mg a day year round because at that dose it was undetectable after 3 days of non-use. A weak steroid, but enough to give an edge. He as genetic freak no matter how you slice it.

[Dostoevsky]

With the help of a doctor,good contacts,politics,money or medical knowledge athletes can beat the drug tests...
The test doesnt test for human growth hormone or insulin...Epo needs a blood test not a urine test....Its easy to cycle off heavy steroids and then go on to water based steroids which are out of your system pretty quick...Masking agents also help to defeat the tests,as well as some doctors helping the athletes by giving them new synthesised drugs which are not on the banned lists or which are undetectable at present....
I suspect most nearly all track and field sprinters,many boxers,tennis players,wrestlers,baseball players,nfl guys,nba guys,combat sports and bodybuilders at the top level take drugs regular in one form or the other....With the athletes its pretty much an open secret....
There are some competitors who are drug free who just work hard and/or have good genetics/talent.....
Many athletes have failed test in all sports,and many have had their positive tests covered up due to politics/money....Drugs are rife in sport at the top level,administrators could either legalise all drugs under medical supervision to level the playing field or have a zero tolerance policy....
Im glad that boxing is a sport where the clean boxer can beat the doped boxer.....A clean weightlifter/bodybuilder has little to no chance of beating his doped counterpart.....


woah woah woah.......tennis players?
nah......Nadal maybe but everyone else, no way....

[enquirer]

You would be suprised by the sports that use gear....Tennis has had its fair share of positives,even rusedski got one....Even some cricketers use,look at pakistans akhtar and muhammed asif.....The best way to know what sports use is by gleaning information off the 'friendly' drug dealers,these guys supply a lot of the sportsmen and they know the sports which use the most....
Just because nadal is muscular doesnt mean he is the only one 'on' or even that he is on,i mean toney and muhammed asif are not exactly ripped and lean muscle mass but both tested positive.....Dont think that if you take gear that you will automatically have bulging bodybuilder type muscles,it depends on the dose and the type of exercises you do...Many sportsmen take gear for recovery purposes,stamina,to recover from injury/tiredness,to get an edge, or just to be able to hold their head over the water and compete in a roided out sportsworld....

[oblate]

steroids are great.