The Chinese women’s Olympic volleyball team allegedly didn’t do so well in the recent FIVB World Grand Prix finals because they hadn’t eaten meat for weeks. No, the women aren’t PETA advocates; they’re abstaining from meat because they’re afraid to get any clenbuterol in their system.
Chinese farmers often use clenbuterol in animal feed to get leaner meat at a faster pace; 50 percent of meat consumed in Beijing is said to contain the additive. Health issues aside, things have gotten tricky with the Olympics coming up because the International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency consider the chemical a performance-enhancing drug. The team enjoys specially sourced meat at their training base, but they have to be careful when they’re on the road. Experts say athletes need to eat more animal protein than ordinary people to keep their stamina up (before all of the non-meat-eaters out there freak out; yes, of course there are some top vegetarian athletes, but the Chinese volleyball team members are not among them) which is likely why the team, used to eating meat on the regular, started lagging in the latter half of their games.