California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger voiced strong opposition to the use of anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs in sports during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union with John King”. Schwarzenegger told John King that he thinks athletes, and presumably pro bodybuilders, should come clean and publicly admit their own steroid use as a mistake for the sake of children who view them as role models (”Schwarzenegger: Steroid Use Sends Bad Message,” February 22, 2009) :
“I think it’s important to get the message out that we should not use drugs. I think we have a certain obligation as athletes to inspire young people. When someone wins an Olympic championship or a boxing championship, whatever it may be, you’re not only a champion, but you’re also an inspirational vehicle for young kids and for people in general to stay fit, to lose weight and all of this.
“I think that the message of not using drugs, not using alcohol, all of those things, always out there and inspire young kids. So I think there are some athletes go in that direction because there’s so much competition. I think they need to come out, be clean, and say look, I used that, I made a mistake, or whatever it is and the sports ought to be without drugs. That’s the important thing.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger, as promoter of the Arnold Classic, has previously urged bodybuilding officials to crackdown on steroid use in the IFBB and called a steroid summit with leaders in the industry to institute steroid testing in the sport. This is widely considered as nothing more than a publicity stunt.
Schwarzenegger has publicly admitted his own use of anabolic steroids as a professional bodybuilder as early as 1974. He has never denied his use of steroids and has consistently acknowledged using them during precontest preparation. However, Schwarzenegger’s statements regarding anabolic steroids have not always entirely consistent and have become increasingly more “anti-steroid” particularly since he became governor of California.
Schwarzenegger’s steroid statements have gone from being entirely unapologetic about his responsible and safe use of steroids to characterization’s of his steroid use as stupid experimentation due to ignorance about the dangerous side effects of steroids. Here are some of Arnold’s steroid statements over the years…
IFBB professional bodybuilder Victor Martinez is expected to win the 2009 Arnold Classic bodybuilding contest on March 7, 2009 according to pro bodybuilding analysts. In addition to the rigorous precontest demands of preparing for one of the most prestigious pro bodybuilding contests on the calendar, Victor Martinez also had to contend with false reports published in the New York Daily News.
During the course of the Alex Rodriguez steroid investigation,the New York Daily News sent sports writer Christian Red down to the Dominican Republic presumably to find out how easy it was to obtain the same anabolic steroids purported to have been used by Alex Rodriguez i.e. testosterone and Primobolan. Alex Rodriguez admitted using anabolic steroids which he alleged were purchased in the Dominican Republic by his cousin.
When Christian Red learned that A-Rod’s preferred steroid Primobolan was NOT legally available in Dominican Republic pharmacies, he searched for other sources of steroids in the Caribbean nation that included gyms and supplement stores. The quest to purchase steroids led Red to the Santo Domingo supplement store identified as “Gurabo” that allegedly sells anabolic steroids. The New York Daily News FALSELY reported that Victor Martinez owned the supplement store Read more
Bodybuilding legend Robby Robinson wants federal government intervention into the sport of professional bodybuilding to combat the (mis)use of anabolic steroids in the sport (”Robby Robinson Still Waging War at 62,” July 14).
“There’s a lot of drugs in the sport,” he said. “To be 300 pounds and come down to 260 or 250. I think the government ought to do something.” Read more
Former bodybuilder turned actor turned politician Arnold Schwarzenegger may be in the cabinet (most likely as energy czar) of the next presidential administration regardless of whether Barack Obama or John McCain is elected according to Reason’s Hit & Run. Scharzenegger told ABC This Week that would consider serving in Obama’s cabinet if asked Read more
Shortly after IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Victor Martinez won the 2007 Arnold Classic, Albany County District Attorney David Soare’s office publicly named Victor Martinez as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Signature Pharmacy and longevity clinic anabolic steroid scandal. Clearly, the intent and timing of the announcement represented a calculated grandstanding opportunity for David Soares to tarnish Governor Arnold Schwazenegger’s association with professional bodybuilding.
But over a year later, the Office of the Albany County District Attorney continues to prominently display Victor Martinez’ name and picture on its website in a diagram of Operation Which Doctor. He is listed with 23 other individuals directly involved in the Signature Pharmacy and longevity clinic steroid scandals. However, I believe Victor is the only individual listed who has not been indicted. But no where is he identified as an “unindicted co-conspirator” allowing visitors to make their own uninformed assumptions.
I was prepared to read another commentary about the dangers of anabolic steroids when I started reading “The Truth About Steroids And Sports, How Performance-Enhancing Drugs Went Mainstream;” the article was written by CNN’s chief medical correspondent, Sanjay Gupta. It started off poorly:
So we all agree that steroids are bad, right? They’ve brought suspicion and shame.
Then it got a little better. Dr. Gupta starts talking about the therapeutic use of anabolic steroids in HIV patients. He talks about the therapeutic uses of steroids.
He seems impressed that steroids can be good but then discusses how the therapeutic uses for steroids were “hijacked” by athletes and especially bodybuilders. Blame the bodybuilders. Parties responsible for the hijacking include the “Arnoldistas” or followers of Arnold Schwarzenegger who, according to Shaun Assael, created a steroid “religion.”
He blamed talked about the “Underground Steroid Handbook” but didn’t even mention the author, Dan Duchaine!
Then Dr. Gupta’s credibility takes a major hit when he talks about growth hormone.
Then there’s human growth hormone (HGH), derived from the pituitary gland.
HGH derived from pituitary glands has not been used in medicine in decades. It is all recombinant human growth hormone nowadays.
I hoped that he could save the article he interviewed Christopher Bell, director and producer of the steroid documentary “Bigger Stronger Faster.”
But that hope was dashed when I learned that when taking anabolic steroids, “there’s always the risk of, you know, heart weakening and liver tumors.” And then I [again] learned Lyle Alzado blamed his brain cancer on steroid abuse.
Gupta asks what can be done about a good drug gone bad? The first thing we should stop doing is stop associating Lyle Alzado’s brain cancer with his steroid abuse. Why do we persist in repeating this again and again with the standard disclaimer that there is no medical evidence to support it?
Flex Online spoke with the attorney for Hidetada Yamagishi and confirmed the steroid-related charges against Hide that we first learned over three weeks ago from Muscletime. Allan Donnelly writes:
Yamagishi is charged with six felonies and three misdemeanors.
The felonies are: unlawful possess for sale and purchase for sale a controlled substance, trenbolone; unlawful possess for sale and purchase for sale a controlled substance, testosterone; unlawful possess for sale and purchase for sale a controlled substance chorionic gonadotropin; unlawful possess for sale and purchase for sale of a controlled substance mesterolone; unlawful possess for sale and purchase for sale of a controlled substance, oxandrolone; unlawful transport, import into the state of California, sell, furnish, administer and give away and offer to transport, import into the State of California, sell furnish, administer and give away, and attempt to import into the State of California and transport a controlled substance trenbolone, chorionic gonadotropin, testosterone, mesterolone, oxandrolone and stanozolol.
Shawn Chapman Holley, Hide’s defense attorney, confirmed that the amount and quantity of anabolic steroids and ancillary drugs found in Hidetada’s luggage at LAX was consistent with personal use for a competitive bodybuilder.
It’s clear that the quantity of steroids at issue is consistent with personal use and far less than one would expect to see in a case of sales. Moreover the quantity is consistent with what one would expect to see for a bodybuilder with the competition schedule Hide had posted on his Website before his arrest.
The State of California is apparently abusing misusing the law by attempting to prosecute Hidetada Yamagishi as a distributor of anabolic steroids; Hidetada clearly had no intent to sell steroids only to compete in professional bodybuilding competitions.
California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, knows a thing or two about the quantity and type of anabolic steroids and ancillary drugs included in precontest bodybuilding steroid stacks. He could easily confirm that the steroid stack imported by Hide was consistent with personal use by a professional bodybuilder. Someone should appeal directly to Arnold Schwarzenegger and ask that he explain this to California prosecutors.
There is a good chance that Hide’s defense attorney will be able to do the same and reach a plea agreement to misdemeanor charges on behalf of Hidetada Yamagishi.
I am hopeful that on February 6th we will have worked out a deal where, hopefully he will plead guilty to a misdemeanor count and be placed on summary probation with credit for time served and that will be the end of the criminal case.
Nonetheless, it is terrible that Hide will have spent no less than 8 weeks incarcerated on trumped up charges.
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone were competitive rivals as box office muscle action heroes during the 1980s. But now Arnold and Sly are apparently good friends. According to Stallone, their friendship has flourished recently:
After he became governor, we started to build this relationship. We’d go to this place called Cafe Rome and smoke cigars, then they banned smoking, so the governor and I were in an alley stealing a few puffs talking about how to balance the budget. Now we meet every Saturday.
Schwarzenegger is even a fan of Sly’s movies nowadays. Arnold took his two sons on a flight to Las Vegas Los Angeles last week for the box office premiere of Sylvester Stallone’s latest movie, Rambo.
I’m certain that Arnold’s friendship with Sly will be criticized since Stallone has become the most high profile celebrity advocate for the use of growth hormone and testosterone in age management medicine during his recent promotional tour for Rambo.
Arnold has long faced criticism of his association with pro bodybuilding via the Arnold Classic because of the rampant anabolic steroid use in the sport. It’s good to hear Arnold is not turning his back on friends and the sport of bodybuilding simply due to political pressure!
“Running with Arnold,” a documentary about California Governor and Bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger, first premiered at the South by Southwest (SWSW) film festival in Austin last March 2007. It was not a particularly ambitious film and full of factual errors. Certainly, Schwarzenegger’s admitted steroid use is fair game, but the director also makes pathetic attempts to link Arnold Schwarzenegger to Adolf Hitler by repeatedly juxtaposing Nazi imagery within the film. Many bad films have debuted at film festivals and quickly disappeared. But for some reason, this film is now being released in theatres (at least in California) and at least for this weekend.
How unfair is the portrayal of Arnold Schwarzenegger in the documentary? Even liberal activist Alec Baldwin, who was hired to do the voiceover narration, had his lawyers (unsuccessfully) issue a cease and desist to compel the producers of the film to remove his voiceover narration from the film.
…Schwarzenegger deserves to be treated fairly and the film’s images of Nazi rallies were over the line… The people of California have the right to reelect an unqualified man to lead their state, and they have the right to do so without unfair and ultimately offensive images of the Third Reich thrown in for bad measure…
Mike Gabrawy, the film’s producer, defended the juxtaposition of Nazi imagery with Arnold Schwarzenegger:
I knew we’d get resistance to a film about the most prominent Republican in California. We’re all just a bit shocked that it’s coming from a supporter of the film and arguably the most outspoken Democrat. The [Third Reich] images that Mr. Baldwin mentioned were used to make points about Waldheim and Arnold’s father.
Well, the reviews are starting to come out now, and few critics seem sympathetic towards the producers of the documentary feeling it’s less of a documentary and more like a 72-minute political attack ad against Schwarzenegger!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/11/DDGGRUDGG7.DTL&type=movies
