2009-05-18 18:02:02 -

BRUSSELS (AP) - The Belgian bodybuilding championship had to be canceled after anti-doping officials showed up and all the competitors fled.
«I have never seen anything like it and hope never to see anything like it again,» said anti-doping official Hans Cooman. He said some body builders just grabbed all their gear and ran off when he came into the room. Twenty bodybuilders were entered in the weekend competition.
«The sport has a history of doping and this incident didn't do its reputation any good,» Cooman said.
Belgium's bodybuilding federation did not dispute the facts but said it could not explain why the competitors had suddenly rushed off.
«There is only one conclusion I can think of and that is doping,» Cooman said.

During in-competition testing of body building events last year, the doping authorities of northern Belgium's Flanders region found three-quarters of the competitors tested positive for doping, with most showing excessive levels of anabolic steroids.
Cooman said he would report the case to the Flemish disciplinary committee, which will have to decide whether it can sanction competitors who refused to be tested.