Strava on Steroids: Fitness App Under Pressure to Penalize PED Users

Anti-doping crusaders are complaining about Strava’s failure to enforce fairness and protect “clean” athletes who use the iPhone and Android fitness application. Many users have asked Strava to ban users who have may have used anabolic steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs).

Strava is a mobile app that uses a smartphone’s GPS capabilities to track athletic activities such as running, swimming and cycling. It is internet-enabled which allows users to compare their times, distances, etc. with over 1 million other recreational, amateur and professional athletes who use the app.

The Strava app can be a lot of fun and useful for self-monitoring of a user’s fitness level and progress. However, it can also bring out the more competitive nature in many users who become obsessed with outperforming other users of the app. The app encourages competition with features such as a public leader-board and King of the Mountain (KOM) and Queen of the Mountain (QOM) awards in which users compete for the fastest times on specific routes and segments.

The KOM and QOM titles are highly sought after and users who rack up numerous virtual crowns become celebrities in the world of Strava. And when an individual does too well, other users become highly envious and suspicious. And much like real-world Olympic and professional sports, the “clean” athletes suspect the use of PEDs may have contributed to the user’s success.

In Los Angeles, a cyclist with the username “Thorfinn Sassquatch” was one such dominant crown holder on Strava. Thorfinn Sassquatch accumulated over 800 KOM virtual crowns and in the process gained several admirers and likely many more “haters”.

When Thorfinn Sassquatch’s identity was revealed and the Strava community learned that he had been linked to doping, the anti-doping crusaders on Strava came out in full force.

In the real world, Thorfinn Sassquatch was really a competitive amateur cyclist named Nicholas Brandt-Sorenson. Brandt-Sorenson had tested positive for the drug efaproxiral (RSR-13) in an anti-doping control administered on September 4, 2011. The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) suspended Brandt-Sorenson for two years of ineligibility. The suspension did not apply to his Strava competitive activities and KOM titles. He continued to rack up more and more KOMs.

In 2016, Brandt-Sorenson pleaded guilty to drug distribution charges after he admitted selling erythropoietin (EPO) to a Colorado cyclist. Brandt-Sorenson operated a website called the Anemia Patient Group which sold EPO and other PEDs to individuals over the internet. USADA sanctioned at least 3 other athletes who obtained PEDs from the website and cooperated with law enforcement officials which led them to Brandt-Sorenson.

Brandt-Sorenson is scheduled to appear in court for sentencing on July 20, 2016. He faces a maximum of one year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000. However, prosecutors in the case will recommend no jail time, 3 years probation, 300 hours of community service and a $5,000 as agreed upon in his plea agreement.

Some Strava users have demanded that Strava strip “Thorfinn Sassquatch” of all of his KOM title and other records and/or ban him from using Strava. At the very least, they have asked Strava to add some type of asterisk to his profile to note his involvement in doping. Specifically, some have called for a syringe emoji to be placed next to your profile photo.

Thankfully, Strava has shown no signs of caving to the anti-doping pressure. Andrew Vontz, the cycling branding manager for Strava, dismissed concerns about the “nuanced debate” over doping and argued that Strava should have no role in judging it.

“Just like Facebook, Twitter or any other social network, there’s going to be bad actors, and that’s an unfortunate reality,” said Vontz. “We place a high value on sportsmanship and fair play, and we want people to earn their records in that fashion.

“We’re not able to judge the nuanced debate about how people used [performance enhancing drugs] and how that use improved times.”

Brandt-Sorenson has used his notoriety as “Thorfinn Sassquatch” to promote his eponymous cycling apparel company simply named “Brandt-Sorenson”. The website sells luxury cycling apparel including its own custom “Sassquatch Collection” of  “genuine USA MultiCam military fabrics to the elite road cycling world”.