Cameron Dudeck has a full-time job as an auditor with one of the largest public accounting and consulting firms in the United States. In his free time, he enjoys going to the gym and lifting weights. And he is pretty good at it. Last year, Dudeck qualified for a national-level competition at his first weightlifting competition. Unfortunately, his hobby as an amateur competitive weightlifter has been put on hold thanks to the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
Dudeck was added to the USADA registered testing pool of drug-tested athletes due to the fact that he qualified and competed at the 2017 USA Weightlifting American Open Series III in Grand Rapids, Michigan on September 8, 2017.
Dudeck competed in the 85-kilogram weight category. He lifted a 95-kilogram snatch and a 125-kilogram clean and jerk for a 220-kilogram total. Dudeck placed 29th out of 46 competitors in his category. By comparison, the winner of the 85-kilogram weight category recorded a 155 snatch, 185 clean and jerk and 340 total.
Dudeck competed in the 85-kilogram weight category once again at the 2018 Arnold Classic Weightlifting Championships on March 5, 2018. He set a new personal record in the clean and jerk of 127 kilograms (280 pounds) and tied his PR in the snatch with a lift of 95-kilograms.
Less than one year after entering his first weightlifting competition, Dudeck had found his new passion. He probably never had any lofty aspirations of representing the United States at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics or even becoming one of the top weightlifting athletes in the country. But he clearly enjoyed what the sport offered in terms of working hard towards self-improvement.
Unfortunately, Dudeck’s new-found love of Olympic weightlifting competition would soon be put on an extended hiatus. Dudeck was selected by USADA for the collection of an out-of-competition urine sample on June 7, 2018. A WADA-accredited laboratory found traces of a long-term metabolite of the anabolic steroid known as Oral Turinabol (dehydrochloromethyltestosterone or DHCMT). Specifically, Dudeck tested positive for 4‐chloro‐18‐nor‐17β‐hydroxymethyl‐17α‐methyl‐5β‐androst‐13‐en‐3α‐ol (M3).
Dudeck admitted to USADA investigators that he used Oral Turinabol when confronted with the steroid positive test result. USADA suspended Dudeck as a result of the anti-doping rules violation. The penalty for the first-time violation was a four-year period of ineligibility. Dudeck is prohibited from competing in any weightlifting competition until June 7, 2022.
U.S. Weightlifting Athlete Cameron Dudeck Receives Sanction for Anti-Doping Rule Violation https://t.co/7aYxb1Nxif pic.twitter.com/FFBg6LuqkQ
— USADA (@usantidoping) September 17, 2018