Sammy the Racehorse and the Creatine Revolution
- Prof. Dr. Kadir Demircan
- Jan 10
- 5 min read
In 1832, the French scientist Michel Eugène Chevreul became the first person to successfully isolate creatine from meat. Since creatine was obtained from meat, Chevreul named his discovery “creatine,” referring to the Latin word kreas, meaning “flesh.”
The story of creatine monohydrate—the white powder found today in almost every gym-goer’s bag—did not begin in a laboratory, but rather with a disappointment in a horse stable. If things had gone smoothly that day and the racehorse named Sammy had obediently swallowed his creatine, the entire field of modern sports nutrition might never have existed.
Let us take a journey from 1960s Sweden to the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games—a fascinating path filled with muscle biopsies, stubborn syringes, and scientific coincidences.
It All Started with a Needle
Our story begins with the modern muscle biopsy technique developed by Dr. Jonas Bergström in 1962. At that time, understanding what was happening inside muscle tissue was like feeling one’s way through the dark. The special needle designed by Bergström allowed scientists to extract small samples of muscle tissue and analyze them directly.
Teaming up with Dr. Eric Hultman, Bergström conducted a legendary experiment in 1966—using themselves as test subjects. One pedaled a bicycle with his right leg, the other with his left, until exhaustion. The result? They proved that post-exercise carbohydrate loading increased muscle glycogen by 50–60%. This was how the concept of “carbohydrate loading” was born.
However, there was a problem: energy was not derived solely from glycogen. Early studies on creatine—the muscle’s true “explosive” fuel—had failed. The scientific community concluded that increasing muscle creatine stores through external supplementation was impossible and shelved the topic. That is, until Dr. Roger Harris entered the scene 15 years later.
Sammy the Racehorse and the “Stuck Piston” Miracle By the late 1980s, Dr. Roger Harris had moved his research to the Animal Health Trust in the UK. His focus had shifted from humans to racehorses. One day, he obtained a sample of creatine monohydrate (CrM). Due to failed experiments in 1975, Harris was hesitant—but decided to test it on a racehorse named Sammy.
The plan was simple: dissolve the creatine in water and administer it to Sammy using a large 50 ml syringe. But things went wrong.
Solubility Issue: Creatine proved far more difficult to dissolve than Harris had anticipated. Mixed with water, it failed to fully dissolve and remained a gritty suspension.Mechanical Failure: As Harris attempted to administer the mixture, undissolved creatine crystals jammed the syringe piston. The piston would not move.
Harris was forced to abandon the experiment. At that very moment, one of the most critical turning points in scientific history occurred. Harris reportedly said, “If the horse won’t drink it, I will.” What If Sammy Had Succeeded? Today we know that horses have a digestive system very different from humans. As herbivores, their creatine absorption is extremely low. If Sammy had consumed the creatine, Harris would have observed no increase in blood creatine levels. This would have reinforced the belief that “creatine doesn’t work,” and human studies would never have begun.
Sammy’s stubbornness—and the jammed syringe—ultimately saved what would become the world’s most popular supplement. Self-Experimentation: From Science to Practice Harris abandoned Sammy and moved into his own kitchen. He dissolved 5 grams of creatine in warm water and drank it. A single 5 g dose corresponds to the creatine content of 1.1 kg of fresh, uncooked beef.
The blood tests were astonishing: blood creatine levels skyrocketed. This was the first proof that creatine could be absorbed from the intestines into the bloodstream. Harris immediately contacted his longtime collaborator Dr. Hultman, and together they published the landmark 1992 paper that shook the sports world: creatine supplementation increased muscle creatine stores.
The abstract stated:
While low doses (1 g creatine monohydrate in solution or less) caused only modest increases in plasma creatine concentration, a 5 g dose resulted in a peak concentration of 795 (SD 104) µmol/l one hour after ingestion in three subjects weighing 76–87 kg.
Barcelona 1992: The Olympics’ “Secret Weapon” — Ergomax News spread rapidly. As the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games approached, British athletes had heard of the discovery. Harris and his team developed a creatine formulation called Ergomax.
In Barcelona, 32-year-old Jamaican sprinter Linford Christie won the 100 meters in 9.96 seconds, claiming the gold medal. Colin Jackson broke records in the hurdles. Both openly credited Ergomax (creatine) as a key factor in their success. One year later, at the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart, Jackson set a world record of 12.91 seconds—a record that stood for nearly 13 years.
At the time, creatine was not on the doping list—and still is not—and was considered a natural dietary component. This marked the official beginning of a revolution in sports nutrition: the era of “ergogenic aids.” An ergogenic aid is broadly defined as any substance, technique, or practice that enhances athletic performance by improving energy use, production, or recovery. Conclusion: Sammy’s Legacy Today, creatine—a tripeptide formed from the amino acids arginine, glycine, and methionine—is used not only by athletes but also to prevent age-related muscle loss (sarcopenia), support brain health, and aid clinical treatments.
All of this became possible thanks to a 50-gram jar of powder sitting on a lab bench and a syringe that jammed in a racehorse’s mouth. Science sometimes delivers its greatest answers when planned experiments fail. Sammy never raced—but he paved the way for millions of athletes to run faster.
Dr. Roger Harris passed away on December 1, 2024, at the age of 80. Do People Get Enough Creatine from Their Daily Diet? An average person requires approximately 2 grams of creatine per day. About half is produced endogenously in the liver, kidneys, and pancreas, while the remainder is obtained from the diet.
Creatine is found exclusively in animal-based foods, ranging from breast milk and infant formula to meat, poultry, fish, and synthetically produced, purified creatine monohydrate supplements. Plant-based foods contain no creatine.
Dietary creatine intake comes primarily from meat and fish. Although creatine content varies between different cuts of meat and species of fish, raw beef and fish contain approximately 4–5 grams of creatine per kilogram on average. Chicken contains significantly less creatine compared to beef and fish.
Vegetarians have lower blood and muscle creatine levels, and even a short-term vegetarian diet of approximately three weeks can reduce muscle creatine stores. One hundred grams of meat provides roughly 27 grams of protein and about 0.5 grams of creatine, suggesting that a daily intake of 1 gram of creatine can generally be achieved under normal dietary conditions.
Creatine should not replace a balanced diet containing adequate protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats, but rather support it. Most people do not require creatine supplementation for general health, as the body produces sufficient amounts—except in rare and severe genetic creatine deficiency syndromes.
Nevertheless, physically active individuals often supplement with creatine to optimize training. Creatine is known to cause mild side effects such as bloating or stomach discomfort, which are more pronounced at higher doses of 25–30 grams per day, often associated with the questionable practice known as “loading.”
References
Comments