Back in early December, news broke that British weightlifter Sonny Webster had tested positive for Ostarine. This is a substance banned by the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) and is known as a Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator (SARM), which are often substances used with medical patients who suffer from muscle wasting diseases.
When Webster addressed and made the news public on his social media, he stated that he had declined the 50% ban reduction in return for knowingly admitting how Ostarine got into his system. In his lengthy Instagram post that you can read here, Webster stood his ground and gave what he said was his side of the story.
Fast forward to this year, and Webster recently made an announcement on his Instagram page that he’d be making the transition to CrossFit. In his Instagram post, he writes,
“Well! I suppose this is huge news from me, which will maybe not come as too much of a shock to a lot of you, but I am officially announcing my transition over to CrossFit! For the last 12 years of my life I have trained the same way for the same sport day in day out and devoted my life to it, so this wasn’t something I found very easy to get my head around changing from.”
Webster continues by adding how he’s always been fond of CrossFit and the community it’s created in the recent years. He also points out that he’s been training with other CrossFit athletes for the past few months.
“For the last couple of years, I have definitely been a big supporter of CrossFit and it’s extremely powerful community, being very fortunate to travel to CrossFit gyms all over the world to deliver weightlifting seminars however I was always too scared to give it a go! Over the last few months, I have been extremely lucky to train with some of the best crossfit athletes in the world which has been incredible to gain knowledge and experience from them in order to help me! When I decided I wanted to make the swap I know from my experience in weightlifting the importance of having a good coach and I was over the moon after asking @steveyf22 who has been to the top of the game twice for his help he was happy to do so!”
To conclude the lengthy Instagram post, Webster acknowledges that he’s a new fish in a big pond of established athletes, but he’s not afraid to fail. In addition, he plans to continue to pursue pushing his weightlifting numbers higher.
“I know I have so much to learn and so much hard work to do going forward but I’m really excited by a new challenge and am not scared to fail. I hope with my experience from weightlifting I can try my best to apply my determination and dedication to a slightly different trade. I want to do my best to document and to show you guys as much as possible how I attack new skills and things that I’m struggling with, with the guidance of some extremely knowledgeable friends. Who knows if I will be any good or not, but I won’t know the answer until I have given it a real shot! I will still be continuing to keep my weightlifting training in at a high level to ensure my top end weights don’t suffer and me and Steve will be working very closely to sow this together! This will have no effect on my continuing tours doing weightlifting seminars and if anything, hopefully will help me develop my knowledge further as to how I can best help pass on my weightlifting skills to CrossFit. Finally a massive thank you to my sponsors who want to support this journey. Here is to a new chapter! Wish me luck!”
Now the question remains, will Webster take a run at this year’s CrossFit Open workouts, and if so, how will he do?
Feature image from @sonnywebstergb Instagram page.