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…
