Many professionals find hemp extracts to be beneficial for sports, but can Olympic athletes use CBD?
The Olympics are not your average sporting event. This is where the top athletes from around the world represent their country in competition and those who get selected want to perform their absolute best.
Athletes are constantly looking for ways to improve their game. Hardcore training regimens and top-of-the-line equipment have always been common fixtures in the life of an Olympian. You have to train like a beast to be the best, and after all that hard work you need to recover.
One of the many reasons people use CBD is to combat inflammation. Your body’s ability to fight inflammation is the key to recovery in almost every scenario imaginable and is especially beneficial for athletes.
CBD has been embraced by athletes around the world, but will it cause them to forfeit their Olympic dreams?
Is CBD Legal?
Humans have utilized hemp for thousands of years. It’s been used to make everything from cloth to medicines. This versatility made hemp a direct competition for many of the blossoming industries in the early 1900’s. Instead of utilizing hemp for manufacturing purposes, big business wanted it out of the equation.
In 1937, the Marijuana Act was passed, making it financially detrimental to grow hemp and effectively beginning a prohibition that would last nearly a century.
It wasn’t until 2018 that the U.S government passed the Farm Bill. This bill states that hemp can legally be grown for commercial purposes as long as it contains less than 0.3% THC.
CBD is now legal throughout the U.S and in many parts of the world.
CBD in Professional Sports
Olympic athletes are recruited from the world of professional sports and a lot of them use CBD as a part of their training regimen. CBD creams are a fantastic way to recover and many athletes say CBD oil helps them perform at their peak.
In the U.S, CBD is generally accepted in sports. CBD is used by NHL stars, those on PGA tours, and a handful of pro tennis players. Even though CBD has been proven to be non-intoxicating and is not on WADA’s list of performance enhancing drugs, some professional sports leagues don’t allow their athletes to use CBD. The NFL, MLB, and NBA are all leagues that maintain their ban on all cannabis and products derived from cannabis, including CBD.
Professional Sports vs the Olympics
The Olympics are the most widely celebrated sporting event in the world. Countries select their finest athletes to represent them in a global competition. These athletes are used to operating under the sets of rules put forth by the governing institutions in their home country, but the Olympics are on the world stage.
Professional sports and the Olympics are governed by different rules and regulations. For the Olympics to be fair, they must have a universal set of regulations that all of the parties involved agree on. This is where WADA comes in.
What is the W.A.D.A?
WADA stands for World Anti Doping Agency. WADA was founded in 1999 by the International Olympic Committee as an international independent agency who monitors the World Anti-Doping Code. This agency’s primary goals are to research, educate, and develop anti-doping regulations as well as preventative measures.
In 2018, cannabidiol (CBD) was removed from WADA’s list of banned substances. All other cannabinoids still remain on the list.
This means that CBD is legal according to WADA, but athletes need to be careful with what type of CBD they use. Both full and broad spectrum extracts are off the table because they contain a variety of cannabinoids. Because CBD is the only accepted cannabinoid, Olympic athletes need to stick to CBD isolate.
The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo (in 2021)
The Summer Olympics were on their way! Then COVID happened.
Athletes were training hard and the world was eager to see them compete in Tokyo. By the time March, 2020, rolled around, nobody was sure what was going to happen. The world was in the throes of a pandemic and scientists couldn’t predict whether or not it would be safe to hold the Olympic games.
On March 24th, governing parties officially decided that the Olympics would be postponed. The decision came just 48 hours after the IOC announced they would give themselves 4 weeks to make the decision. It was an obvious choice as the results of a massive international crowd gathering during a pandemic would be catastrophic.
Many of the Olympic athletes preparing for the 2020 Olympics were using CBD as an integral part of their training regimen and fans were eager to see the results.
Now we’ll just have to wait until 2021!
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