American sprinter Shelby Houlihan was suspended in 2021 for using anabolic steroids.
Photo: Charlie Neibergall / TT NEWS AGENCY
OS i Paris.
Photo: Daniela Porcelli/SPP/Shutterstock / TT NEWS AGENCY
For ten weeks, twice a day, Gabriella lubricated her thighs with a skin cream.
– That was it, nothing more dramatic than that. It didn’t smell anything special, it could just as well have been a Nivea ointment, says the 34-year-old.
But this skin cream had added testosterone.
– It made no difference to my life. I trained as usual.
She was one of 48 fit women between the ages of 18 and 35 who participated in the study at the Karolinska Institutet.
– For my part, it felt important to participate for almost all research concerning men, regardless of the subject.
Half of the women who participated received testosterone cream and half a placebo. Gabriella didn’t know what she was smearing herself with.
Was there anything that felt different during that time?
– I didn’t think that anything was different, but instead I looked for signs that something was different. But I can’t say I found anything.
Never tested on women before
Testosterone levels in elite female athletes have generated debate in recent years. However, whether testosterone is a performance enhancer for women had never been scientifically investigated.
– Historically, it has been tested on men and thought that’s it yet so for women too. That’s why we decided to test it, says researcher Jona Elings Knutsson.
The doctoral thesis that was presented this summer clearly shows that testosterone gives women an increased physical performance. Endurance in a fitness test increased by over eight percent
– A fairly small dose had a very big effect and in the sports world it can be decided in hundredths, then eight percent is of course a lot.
But there was something else that surprised Jona Elings Knutsson and her colleagues.
Only two out of 24 who increased their ability with testosterone tested positive for doping.
– If it had been real, a lot of people would have gone free. It is because even the doping tests are researched on men.
Greek pole vaulter Eleni-Klaoudia Polak tested positive for doping during the Olympics and was suspended from the games in Paris.
Photo: ALEKSANDRA SZMIGIEL / BILDBYRÅN
“Nobody expected it to be this bad”
It is well known that fewer women are caught for doping than men. The fact that the menstrual cycle and certain contraceptives change women’s hormone levels are not taken into account in doping tests.
– It has been known that it is problematic, but I don’t think anyone expected that it was so bad.
Instead of urine samples, the researchers looked at blood samples and found another marker that was not affected by different hormone levels.
– This is revealed by those who have taken testosterone, but no innocent will be caught because of birth control pills or the menstrual cycle.
The discovery has already had effects in the sports world. The international anti-doping agency Wada introduced the blood test in doping tests last year. It was used, among other things, at the Paris Olympics last summer.
– I think that many people have so far thought that women simply don’t dope themselves as much, that women are slightly better people in some way. But that remains to be seen, perhaps that will change with improved methods. I guess we’ll be able to see that when we’ve had it for a few years.
