Sportschau · 3 September 2026
"Datenlage zu dünn": Abnehmspritze im Sport - ist das schon Doping?
“The data is too thin”: weight-loss injections in sport, is that already doping?
By Hajo Seppelt, Peter Wozny · ARD investigative sports desk (Dopingredaktion) · published in German
A survey of sports physicians published in Sports Medicine reopened the question of whether GLP-1 drugs belong on the WADA Prohibited List. Sportschau put the survey to a WADA adviser, a tennis brand ambassador who takes one, and an amateur endurance athlete who ran the drug on himself and wrote down what happened.
Dann fängt man langsam an mit einer kleinen Dosierung und macht die Erfahrung, wie stark es wirkt, dann erhöht man vielleicht ein bisschen, bis man sagt: Okay, die Gewichtsverlustrate ist die richtige für mich.
You start slowly on a small dose and find out how strongly it works, then maybe you raise it a bit, until you say: okay, that rate of weight loss is the right one for me.
Ein GLP-1-Medikament macht dich nicht schneller oder kräftiger. Es steigert in dem Sinne die Leistung nicht. Man muss trotzdem das Training reinstecken.
A GLP-1 drug does not make you faster or stronger. It does not raise performance in that sense. You still have to put the training in.
Every checkable claim in the piece
One row per claim, held to the same standard as the rest of the site. Corroborated means we followed it to the primary source and it held. Reported only means we could not reach the primary source and are not pretending we did.
| Claim in the article | Verdict | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| Semaglutide and tirzepatide sit on WADA's Monitoring Program, not the Prohibited List, so neither is banned in competition. | corroborated | Semaglutide has been monitored since 2024 and tirzepatide was added for 2026, in and out of competition. Monitoring collects use patterns and carries no sanction. WADA Prohibited List and Monitoring Program |
| 114 sports physicians from 38 countries were surveyed, covering 93 sports. | corroborated | Matches the published paper and the university's own release, figure for figure. Loughborough University, 18 August 2026 |
| 12 per cent knew of at least one athlete using a GLP-1 with no medical need; 44 per cent wanted the drugs eventually prohibited; 38 per cent were undecided. | corroborated | All three figures appear in the source paper. Its authors recommend education, monitoring and further research rather than an immediate ban, which is a softer conclusion than the 44 per cent alone suggests. Sports Medicine, doi:10.1007/s40279-026-02514-4 |
| 13 per cent of the physicians had been approached by athletes about these drugs. | reported only | This figure is in the Sportschau piece and is not in the Loughborough release. It may well be in the full paper behind the paywall. Until someone has read it there, treat it as reported rather than checked. Sportschau, 3 September 2026 |
| Any addition of GLP-1 drugs to the Prohibited List is expected in 2028 at the earliest. | forecast | A projection about WADA's annual list cycle, not a decision anyone has taken. No published WADA document commits to a date. Sportschau, 3 September 2026 |
What this site says about GLP-1 and training
- GLP-1 and endurance fuellingWhat happens to carbohydrate intake during long sessions when gastric emptying slows
- GLP-1 and runningPace, fuelling and the lean-mass problem across a cut
- GLP-1 and working outTraining through a deficit, and what protects strength
- GLP-1 and fasted trainingWhy the drug makes fasted sessions easier to reach and harder to fuel