Could a drug designed for weight loss help athletes perform better?

GLP-1 weight-loss drugs can reduce weight and improve health, but could they also boost athletic performance? Scientists say the evidence is unclear, but there is a growing debate around whether they could be considered performance enhancing. "The one opponent I could not defeat is the weight," Serena Williams said on Oprah Winfrey's podcast last year. "I literally was working eight hours a day in the gym training and I never could lose an ounce. In fact, I feel like I may have even gained weight," she said. In the interview, she explained she began taking a GLP-1 weight loss drug after struggling to lose weight after her child was born. In an interview with Vogue, she said the drug in question was tirzepatide (which is sold under brand names Zepbound and Mounjaro). Williams is paid to be a brand ambassador for Ro, a company that administers the drugs, and her husband, Alexis Ohanian is an investor in the company. It's one of several drugs on the market that suppress appetite and can lead to substantial weight loss. The drugs work by mimicking the gut hormone GLP-1 and in the case of tirzepatide, also GIP – both are hormones that make us feel full. In sports, it's long been the cas

Aug 17, 2026 → Aug 17, 2026