USA Weightlifting is strengthening its commitment to clean competition and fair play by partnering with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in launching the Lift Clean initiative.

Under Lift Clean, USA Weightlifting will expand the drug testing of athletes by both randomly and intelligently selecting local events throughout the year for USADA to perform doping screenings. USA Weightlifting and USADA will also strategically select events where doping is suspected by utilizing intelligence gathered from members of the weightlifting community who are willing to speak up for clean sport. There will be no advanced notice given for which events will be tested under Lift Clean.

“Doping is cheating,” USA Weightlifting CEO Phil Andrews said. “We will work with athletes, coaches, clubs and meet directors in concert with USADA to ensure all of our athletes compete on a level playing field.”

Lift Clean, which rolls out January 1, 2017, will help USA Weightlifting towards its goal of a totally clean sport by identifying dishonest athletes at all levels of competition.

The program will serve as an extension of USA Weightlifting’s existing anti-doping partnerships with USADA, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF).

Lift Clean takes advantage of USADA’s extensive testing resources, including state-of-the art testing methods that make it possible to screen for more prohibited substances and detect substances for longer periods of time. USADA utilizes the latest anti-doping science to test thousands of athletes each year in a wide range of sports.

“We are here to serve clean athletes and protect fair play,” said USADA CEO, Travis T. Tygart. “And it’s encouraging to see USA Weightlifting taking extra steps to invest in their athletes and clean sport by increasing testing – we are hopeful this will help ensure that every athlete has the opportunity to compete clean and win.”

Because Lift Clean simply expands testing to all levels of USA Weightlifting sanctioned competition, the results management and adjudication process will remain the same in the event of a positive test.

At USAWeightlifitng.org, athletes can access a special section with information and resources to learn more about anti-doping and how to make sure they are competing in the most honest and ethical way.

Since 2001, USADA has tested 996 Weightlifting athletes, collecting more than 5,000 samples.

“USADA has always been a great partner,” Andrews said. “We look forward to working with them on this very important program.”

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