Is Ozempic banned in sport?

A boxer I work with asked me this season whether a GLP-1 injection could take care of the last few kilos before an event. I said no. I will not plan a weight cut around a prescription drug, and whether anyone takes one is a decision for them and their doctor. The rules turned out to be the smallest part of that answer.

What "monitored" means

WADA describes its Monitoring Program as substances that are not on the List but that it wants to watch "in order to detect potential patterns of misuse in sport". Laboratories report what they find in samples, and WADA uses the numbers to decide whether a substance belongs on a future List.

So a monitored drug is legal today, and WADA is collecting the data it would need to decide whether to ban it. Semaglutide has been monitored since 2024, and tirzepatide was added in 2026.

Which list you are tested against

Most fighters are tested under someone else's list, and the lists differ.

If you do not know which programme tests you, who actually tests you sets it out body by body.

Why I would not build a cut around it

Being allowed does not make a drug useful in a cut. Five things work against this one.

It slows the stomach. The Ozempic prescribing information says it plainly: semaglutide "delays gastric emptying". Everything after the weigh-in depends on getting food and fluid through the gut fast. In the California fight-night record on this site, the median fighter puts back 15.5 lb between the weigh-in and the fight, about 10 percent of the weight on the scale. That regain goes through the stomach, and on a GLP-1 drug the stomach empties more slowly. Rehydration after the weigh-in covers what that window has to achieve.

The common side effects are fluid losses. In the trials behind Wegovy at 2.4 mg, nausea was reported by 44 percent of participants against 16 percent on placebo, diarrhoea by 30 percent against 16, and vomiting by 24 percent against 6. The Ozempic label adds that most reports of acute kidney injury came from patients whose gastrointestinal reactions led to dehydration. A fighter in the last days of a cut is already short of water. Vomiting and diarrhoea take more of it at the worst possible time.

Part of what comes off is lean mass. In the body composition substudy of STEP 1, participants on semaglutide lost 8.36 kg of fat and 5.26 kg of lean mass, so about 39 percent of the loss was lean. For tirzepatide in SURMOUNT-1 it was about a quarter. Those figures need context, and the muscle loss page gives it. A fighter still has to make the division on the scale and then fight with whatever is left.

The product may not be what the label says. The FDA has seized counterfeit Ozempic from the US supply chain, and it warns that compounded semaglutide is not FDA approved and that some products are sold "for research purposes" or "not for human consumption". A vial from outside the licensed supply carries the same risk as any unlicensed peptide: you cannot know what else is in it. A product that has never been approved as a medicine anywhere falls under category S0 and is prohibited at all times, whatever it calls itself. The BPC-157 page explains that clause.

The status can change. WADA is collecting data because it has not decided. A habit built on a drug that is legal in 2027 can become a violation the year after.

If you already take one

If a doctor has prescribed a GLP-1 drug for a medical reason, the rules are simple for now: it is not prohibited, and no TUE is needed. List it on the doping control form as you would any medication. Tell the people who plan your weight, and talk to the prescribing doctor before any cut, because the plan has to be built around the medicine rather than the other way round.

Common questions

Is Ozempic on the WADA list?

It is not prohibited. Semaglutide, the drug in Ozempic and Wegovy, is on WADA's Monitoring Program, which lists substances WADA watches but does not ban. It stays off the Prohibited List for 2027.

Is Mounjaro banned in sport?

No. Tirzepatide, the drug in Mounjaro and Zepbound, is not prohibited for 2026 or 2027. It was added to the Monitoring Program in 2026.

Do I need a TUE for Ozempic?

No. A therapeutic use exemption applies only to prohibited substances, and GLP-1 drugs are not prohibited. How the process works for substances that are prohibited is in therapeutic use exemptions.

Will GLP-1 drugs be banned?

WADA has not decided. It kept their status unchanged for 2027 while it gathers data. Under its usual yearly timetable, the earliest a change could take effect is January 2028.

Can a fighter use Ozempic to make weight?

It is not an anti-doping violation under the WADA List. It slows stomach emptying, commonly causes vomiting and diarrhoea, and takes lean mass along with fat, all of which work against the refeed after the weigh-in. Any prescription medicine is a decision for the athlete and a doctor.

Is Ozempic banned for college wrestlers?

The NCAA does not name GLP-1 drugs in its banned classes, but its list says there is no complete list of banned substances. Ask your athletics department before you assume anything.

Anti-doping rules change every year. Check the current list of the organisation that tests you before relying on this page.