The Untold Story Behind Creatine, and How I Played a Pivotal Role In It Becoming a Global Supplement Phenomenon
Setting the story straight:
Back in 1992, along with a small team of ‘believers,’ I became the person who introduced creatine supplementation (Ergomax C150) to the world at the Barcelona Olympics.
Setting the scene:
The backstory is unbelievable, filled with secret meetings with scientists and researchers, and a chance encounter with a small pharmaceutical manufacturing company, that just happened to be located less than 15 kilometers from where I lived. They were able to produce exactly what we needed. Agreements were made with athletes, and coaches that no mention of creatine use would be made until after the Games. Even now, more than three decades later, this whole “truth is stranger than fiction” episode still makes me shake my head in disbelief. Did this really happen?
How it all started:
In March 1992, I received a request for a meeting from Prof Eric Hultmann (10th October 1925 to 9th March 2011), Karolinska Institutet (Sweden) and Dr Roger Harris, Aberystwyth University, Wales. We met at a country hotel in the north of England a week or so later.
They shared the results of their research with me, six months before its publication, showing that creatine could improve athletic performance in explosive, sprint-related sports by 1–3%. They asked if I could get creatine into the hands of some of the athletes who would be competing at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.
Here’s a link to the groundbreaking creatine research paper, which was eventually published in September 1992:
“Elevation of creatine in resting and exercised muscle of normal subjects by creatine supplementation”
Thanks to my sports nutrition company, Maxim, which was part of the British team’s nutrition strategy for the Barcelona Games, I was in a position to make it happen. My cousin, Carl Jennings NZBM, a world-renowned strength and conditioning coach, played a pivotal role in bringing this plan to life.
We worked covertly with several athletes. Five of them went on to win gold medals. The data we collected during this time reshaped our understanding of creatine’s potential, pushing the boundaries of human performance to unimaginable levels.
Things start to get crazy:
Doug Gillon, a journalist with The Glasgow Herald embedded in the Olympic Village, caught wind of a rumor that British athletes were using a secret “wonder pill.” Doug called me from the Village, claiming he had a box of Ergomax C150, he knew everything and wanted the full story. I had no choice but to refer him to Prof. Hultman and Dr. Harris, who were able to validate and confirm the scientific and ethical facts.
Two days later, Doug broke the story on July 28, 1992, with this headline:
“Scientists may keep UK athletes one step ahead”
Once the story was published, during the Olympic games, it created a lot of media interest, for which I was not prepared. It also came with a lot of controversy regarding the legality of creatine use by athletes, and I found myself in the eye of a potential doping scandal storm.
Proving the naysayers wrong:
This single moment catapulted my company to new heights. Within 12 months, we had opened 11 new export markets. And remember, this was all before e-commerce, direct-to-consumer, and social media existed. It took 272 days of travel, countless meetings, TV appearances, media interviews, and, most importantly, the creation of lifelong friendships and epic memories. It was like living “The Hero’s Journey,” and I loved every minute of it.
This article was published in October 1992 (originally in Basque):
“The muscles of athletes do not tire”
Here’s another article from 1993 published in The Independent that captures the impact of creatine:
“Cambridge Boat Captures the Creatine Effect”
This article was originally published in the International SportMed Journal in 2000, and includes a reference to Barcelona 1992:
“Creatine Supplementation: The Athlete’s Friend or Foe?”
For reference, here’s the international creatine patent application I filed in 1994. It includes early mentions of cognitive function and other benefits outside the world of athletic performance.
A new category is created:
Creatine supplementation quickly became a staple in every serious sprint athlete’s nutrition routine. By the time of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, it was estimated that about 80% of athletes in explosive sports events were using creatine.
What’s next?
I’m now working on a new business, Yeu, developing a transformational nutrition product with mass-market appeal. This new product has the potential to surpass creatine in terms of impact and market size.
Game-on,
Steve Jennings
Audio: Conversational summary of the story. Created with NotebookLM
