Another Positive Doping Test for Methylhexaneamine
by Anthony Roberts
A Sri Lankan weightlifter recently tested positive for methylhexaneamine, the banned substance that has been responsible for a flurry of positive tests and lawsuits over the past few months. Although MHA is a potent stimulant, I never really got a huge ergogenic effect from the stuff by itself, so I’m not 100% sure why this guy was taking it (unless it was to cut weight or whatever).There are far, far better options for a weightlifter…
The huge divide between what is legal and readily available versus what’s allowed by anti-doping authorities is becoming absurd. With no oversight on agencies like WADA (who banned portable oxygen a few years ago), legal supplements will continue to be banned, and athletes who take over-the-counter supplements will continue to test positive for stuff that you can find at GNC. And ultimately, those supplements will disappear from GNC, as WADA’s apparent goal is to become a law making organization.
Scary stuff.
Commonwealth Games weightlifting gold medallist Chinthana Vidanage has been provisionally suspended following a positive drug test at the Asian championships, local media reported.
Vidanage, who won gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and silver in the 69 kg category at the Delhi Games last year, returned a positive drug test for methylhexaneamine at the Asian tournament in China’s Anhui province last month.
Methylhexaneamine, which is commonly used as a nasal decongestant, was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned list last year as a stimulant and has led to bans for a raft of athletes across various sports.
Vidanage, who carried Sri Lanka’s flag at the Delhi Games and enjoys hero-status at home, had been banned provisionally by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), reports said, citing the Sri Lanka sports ministry.
Neither the IWF nor the Asian Weightlifting Federation were available for comment. Sri Lanka’s weightlifting federation was also unavailable for comment.
“I was shocked to learn about it as I have never been tested positive for a banned substance after being scrupulously tested everywhere I went from the Commonwealth Games … to Delhi and at every Asian and South Asian championships,” the weightlifter was quoted as saying by Sri Lanka news website The Island (www.island.lk).
The medical unit of Sri Lanka’s sports ministry was continuing investigations, reports said.
Another Sri Lankan Commonwealth Games gold medalist is embroiled in a damaging drugs scandal after weightlifer Chinthana Vidanage, who carried the country’s flag in New Delhi last year, tested positive for a banned stimulant and is facing a suspension.
Vidanage, who won gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and silver in the 69 kg category in Delhi, returned a positive drug test for methylhexaneamine at the Asian Championships in China’s Anhui province last month, it has been reported.
He has been provisionally suspended by the International Weightlifting Federation.
The 29-year-old was among four of Sri Lanka’s leading competitors who last month were unveiled by officials bidding for Hambantota to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games as part of an Athletes Commission to help provide advice during the campaign.
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