Not as of 2026. A narrative review published in July 2026 found that incretin therapies, including semaglutide, liraglutide and tirzepatide, are not on the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List [2]. Semaglutide has been in WADA’s monitoring program since 2024 [4]. Monitoring is not a ban; it means the agency is watching how the drug is used. Buying retatrutide, the unapproved drug behind the newest test, is covered in whether you can buy retatrutide.
What the list says
The July 2026 review asked whether incretin therapies meet WADA’s criteria for doping, and found they are not on the Prohibited List [2].
Its conclusion is that current evidence does not support classing them as doping agents, and it calls for continued surveillance as misuse patterns emerge.
The list is revised every year. An athlete should check the current edition and the rules of their own sport.
Why the drugs are watched
Weight decides eligibility in some sports. A racing laboratory notes that semaglutide may give an advantage in weight-class sports such as wrestling and boxing [5].
Animal and cell studies show better endurance and glucose uptake [2]. Human trials show no consistent improvement in physical performance.
The weight lost is not all fat, since lean mass makes up 20% to 30% of it. That trade is covered in whether a GLP-1 causes muscle loss.
Testing is already being built
A Brazilian antidoping lab validated a test for retatrutide to WADA criteria [1]. The authors cite increasing off-label use among physically active people as the reason for building it.
Four users self-administered 2 mg on day one and day seven. Retatrutide stayed detectable in plasma for about 56 days after the first dose, and it never appeared in urine.
The authors conclude plasma is the right sample for long-acting peptides. Four people is enough to validate a test, and not enough to fix a detection window for everyone.
Semaglutide testing has mostly used blood. A 2026 method detects two semaglutide breakdown products in urine, down to 50 pg/mL [5].
A German preventive doping lab has profiled amylin drugs, including cagrilintide and pramlintide [4]. It built and validated detection methods intended for future monitoring in sport. Cagrilintide is half of the combination covered in whether CagriSema works for type 2 diabetes.
What sports medicine advises
A 2026 review of injectable peptides in sports medicine covered five classes [3]. It found GLP-1 drugs are the one class with repeated randomized evidence of symptom relief, in knee osteoarthritis. The benefit came mainly through weight loss.
The other injectable peptides promoted for recovery remain investigational, and they face widespread antidoping restrictions. The review recommends confining clinical use to approved drugs for their approved conditions.
Clinicians treating athletes are told to cover product quality and antidoping rules. Product quality is its own risk. What unregulated copies contain is set out in whether it is safe to buy semaglutide online and whether compounded semaglutide is safe.