Doping in the United States

Doping (in the United States), or using banned performance-enhancing drugs, happens in U.S. sports—especially baseball and football. A 2024 study found that 2.2% of athletes admitted to using steroids, hormones, or blood doping. When inhalers and marijuana are included, the number rises to 9.2%. The U.S. has had 10 Olympic medals stripped or returned for doping. Cases include Rick DeMont (1972), Marion Jones (5 medals in 2000), Antonio Pettigrew and Jerome Young (2000), Lance Armstrong (2000), Tyler Hamilton (2004), and Tyson Gay (2012).

A 2024 Sports Medicine study found that 6.5–9.2% of U.S. athletes admitted to using banned methods. Another 2024 University of Chicago study estimated 2.2% for anabolic steroids, peptide hormones, and blood manipulation, but 9.2% when substances like beta-2 agonist inhalers and marijuana were included.

Revelations by USOC Director Wade Exum

In 2003, Wade Exum, who led the United States Olympic Committee’s (USOC) drug control program from 1991 to 2000, gave documents to Sports Illustrated showing that around 100 American athletes tested positive for banned substances between 1988 and 2000. Exum argued that these athletes, including Carl Lewis, Joe DeLoach, and Floyd Heard, should have been banned from the Olympics but were allowed to compete.

Exum had previously tried to use the documents in a lawsuit against the USOC, claiming racial discrimination, wrongful termination, and a cover-up of failed drug tests, but the case was dismissed due to lack of evidence. The USOC called the case “baseless,” noting that Exum himself oversaw the anti-doping program and the athletes had been cleared according to the rules.

Exum’s documents showed that Carl Lewis tested positive three times during the 1988 Olympic trials for low levels of banned stimulants (pseudoephedrine, ephedrine, and phenylpropanolamine), which could have led to disqualification and a six-month suspension. Lewis claimed he accidentally ingested the substances through a dietary supplement containing “Ma huang” (Ephedra). The USOC accepted this explanation, and his teammates Joe DeLoach and Floyd Heard were also cleared for the same reason.

At the time, Lewis’s highest stimulant level was 6 ppm. While this was considered positive in 1988, today the acceptable limit has been raised to 10 ppm for ephedrine and 25 ppm for similar substances. Experts noted that such low levels are consistent with taking cold or allergy medicines and are unlikely to enhance performance.

Following Exum’s revelations, the IAAF confirmed that in 1988 the USOC followed proper procedures for handling low-level positive tests, concluding them as “negative cases” according to the rules at the time.

Related pages
Doping in sport
References

Category:Doping in sport