The Belgian Bodybuilding Championships have ended in chaos after the entire line-up of muscles from Brussels fled the contest as fast as their inflated quads could carry them.

Organisers of the annual battle of the brawn staged the event just across the border in the Netherlands, allegedly a ruse to avoid the jurisdiction of domestic drug checkers.

But to the disappointment of 300 spectators, all 20 of the over-developed iron men lost their nerve before they had the chance to flex for glory when three Flemish anti-doping doctors turned up at the weigh-in.

The National Amateur Body Building Association of Belgium (NABBA) confirmed that this year’s competition had been abandoned.

Dr Hans Cooman, one of the three drug testers, said: “From the moment they knew that there was anti-doping control, they just went away.”

He was surprised that not one of the contestants seemed prepared to provide a urine sample. “There was no competition any more because there were no competitors.”

Dr Cooman said that testing results from various events last year showed that anabolic steroids were popular with bodybuilders preparing for competition. "It is a world that is highly susceptible to doping,” he added.

But the meek musclemen may not have escaped censure despite their sudden disappearance.

“Our code states that avoiding a doping control is also a doping practice,” said Dr Cooman. “So we have made a report for the disciplinary commission and they can judge whether this was avoidance.”

Renee Sleecks, the head of NABBA in Belgium, did not want to discuss why his organisation called off the annual contest. “We do not give comment on that,” he said.

But he added that the country which gave the world Jean-Claude Van Damme, the action movie actor known as the Muscles from Brussels, would try and revive the contest next year. “I hope so,” said Mr Sleecks.

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