Last year, 152 out of 343 people tested at gyms across the country either tested positive for anabolic steroid use – known as ‘doping’ – or refused to be tested. That’s compared with 104 in 2012 and 101 in 2013.
“Our targeted efforts have resulted in the highest number of cases to date,” Christina Friis Johansen, the acting head of Anti Doping Danmark, told Metroxpress.
“We have been working closely with the industry and checking with individual centres on where and when to come – drug-users switch centres frequently, so we have to follow them.”
Two year ban
Some 650,000 trainers at fitness centres throughout the country have voluntarily agreed to participate in anti-doping efforts, according to figures from fitness group Dansk Fitness & Helse Organisation (DFHO).
Any member testing positive is banned from training at a centre for two years.
“Our message is very clear: people who dope are not welcome at our gyms,” said DFHO head Morten Brustad.
“There are a number of centres that have chosen not to participate and where there is unfortunately no control over doping.”
READ MORE: Councils to fight fitness-related doping abuse among youths
Tax authority Skat has also been cracking down on anabolic steroids, confiscating over 46,000 pills and vials of the drugs in 2014 compared with just under 37,000 in 2013.
