NSF International Partners with Austrian Ski Federation to Test Athletes’ Supplements for Banned Substances

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NSF International (Ann Arbor, MI) is collaborating with the Austrian Ski Federation on a new anti-doping initiative to minimize the risk of inadvertent doping in professional athletes. Austrian Ski Federation partnered with NSF to help its athletes avoid dietary supplements that may include banned substances.

Currently, says NSF, supplement brands whose products are used by the ski federation’s athletes must provide those products to NSF’s laboratory in Rheda-Wiedenbrück, Germany, where they are screened for any of the 260 banned supplement ingredients. 

Wolfgang Schobersberger, MD, anti-doping advisor for the Austrian Ski Federation and head of sports medicine at Tirol Kliniken Innsbruck (Innsbruck, Austria), explained in a press release that the initiative will help athletes make more informed decision about the supplements they use. "When we learned that NSF International tests supplements for approximately 260 substances banned in sport at its German laboratory, we knew that this level of protection was exactly what we needed in order to strengthen our doping prevention program and to minimize the risk of inadvertent doping from supplements,” he said.

One of the athletes participating in the program is two-time Olympic gold medalist Marcel Hirscher. As part of the agreement, and at Hirscher’s request, NSF International will be testing supplements used by Hirscher.

"My job is to make sure that all athletes of the Austrian Ski Federation can entirely focus on the sport and use their energy to deliver their best performances at major ski competitions,” added Schobersberger. “Our program creates a high level of safety and trust for our athletes when taking their preferred sports nutrition supplements."

Added Martin Krainz, business development manager, NSF International: “The Austrian Ski Federation is one of the most successful winter sports organizations in the world. By testing for banned substances, the federation is demonstrating its deep commitment to its athletes and doping prevention."

The initiative is the latest effort in NSF’s existing doping prevention program. NSF also offers its NSF Certified for Sport supplement certification program through which sports supplements can undergo extensive third-party testing for adulteration and banned substances. NSF Certified for Sport includes label claim reviews, product formulation and toxicology testing, and ongoing facility audits.

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