3. Get Ripped. Quick
Description
Prior to the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas Venezuela, the issue of sports doping was largely flying under the American public’s radar. But when 19 athletes are found positive for using banned substances at the games, steroids are thrust into focus. And a stigma starts to grow.
At the same time, authorities are cracking down on the manufacture of one of the most popular anabolics in the bodybuilding community - dianabol. It’s the perfect setting for a black market boom.
Enter William Dillon, Dan Duchaine and an entrepreneurial British ex Olympic track champion named David Jenkins who turn the steroid drought into an opportunity. Together, they supercharge their steroid operation.
In Episode 3 of Muscle Men, historian, podcaster and fitness expert Natalia Mehlman Petrzela looks at the evolution of the use of steroids in sports, from its early days in the Soviet Union’s sports programme, to its rise to the highest levels of international sport.
Featuring former bodybuilder William Dillon; Professor of Sports Studies at Stirling College-Chengdu University, Daniel Rosenke; and former Olympic weightlifter and weightlifting coach Michael Cohen.
Presenter and Executive Producer: Natalia Mehlman Petrzela
Producer: Caroline Thornham
Assistant Producer: Mohamed Ahmed
Editor: Katherine Godfrey
Production Manager: Cheree Houston
Sound Design and Mix by Daniel Kempson
Original Music by SilverHawk, aka Cyrille Poirier
Executive Producer: Max O’Brien
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4
Featuring clips from:
Britain’s Hopes for Munich - Associated Press Archive, AP Television
CBS Evening News report on the Pan American Games - CBS News
Episodes are released weekly on Mondays. If you’re in the UK, you can listen to the latest episode, a week early, first on BBC Sounds https://bbc.in/3ybDcHO
In the wake of the steroid ring’s downfall, the headline-grabbing prosecutions combine with sports scandals and anxieties about steroids making it into high school locker rooms. Lawmakers decide to take action. The Steroid Control Act of 1990, spearheaded by none other than then-Senator Joe...
Published 09/16/24
When bodybuilder William Dillon moved to LA, he dreamed of getting rich quick by selling the promise of big muscles in a bottle. But in the spring of 1987, that dream has come crashing down around him. With the authorities closing in on the steroid dealing ring, and fearing for his life, it’s...
Published 09/09/24