RISKS OF SUPPLEMENTS USE

Risks of Supplements Use

Checking Medications

Athletes, like everyone else, may need medications to treat an illness, injury or condition and they have the right to use them to protect and restore their health. However, athletes must take extra precautions to ensure their medications do not contain prohibited substance or involve use of prohibited methods. This applies to all medications whether they are prescribed by a medical professional or purchased over-the-counter at a pharmacy or in the supermarket.

The ITA Athlete Hub provides key information and practical advice for athletes and their support personnel. Keep in mind that the World Anti-Doping Code holds athletes strictly liable (responsible) for what they use and what is found in their body, regardless of whether there was an intention to cheat or not or if the athlete is at fault.

We recommend using Global Drug Reference Online (Global DRO) to check all medications. Global DRO provides athletes and Athlete Support Personnel with information about the prohibited status of specific medications based on the current World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List.  

Risks of Supplements

Supplements are a leading cause of inadvertent doping, and no guarantee can be given that a supplement is free from prohibited substances. Despite the risks, supplement use in sport is common with 40-100% of athletes reporting supplement use. Athletes and their support teams should understand these risks, know how to minimise them, and make informed decisions.

The supplement industry is not consistently regulated. This means supplements can:

• Contain prohibited substances as their main ingredients.
• Be contaminated during the manufacturing process, handling process or in the supply chain of ingredients.
• Be mislabelled with the contents not matching what is stated.
• Be falsely advertised with claims that lack supporting evidence.

Visit the ITA Athlete Hub for key information and practical advice to support athletes and their support personnel to navigate supplements.

Checking Supplements

While the only way to avoid the risks of supplements is not to use them, it is acknowledged that some athletes know the risks and choose to use supplements. If, after careful consideration, an athlete chooses to use supplements, they must take the necessary steps to minimise the risks. This includes:

• Thorough research on the type and dose of the supplement, preferably with the advice of a certified nutritionist or other qualified professional who is familiar with the global and International Practical Shooting Confederation anti-doping rules.
• Selecting only those supplements that have been batch-tested by an independent company. Companies that batch-test supplements include Informed Sport, Certified for Sport or Kölner Liste.

Remember, no supplement is 100% risk-free and use may lead to an Anti-Doping Rule Violation.

For more information, please watch this ITA webinar on nutritional supplements.