Doping - Encyclopedia Hub

Doping is a term that refers to the use of prohibited substances to improve an athlete’s performance in sporting events. Most people consider doping in sports to be a form of cheating. The use of certain drugs violates the rules of virtually every amateur and professional sports organization. Many experts fear that doping has become widespread in virtually every major sport. Some sports officials, however, deny that a major doping problem exists or downplay the size of the problem.

Throughout history, competitors have used drugs and other substances to gain an advantage over their opponents. However, drug use to improve athletic performance was rarely considered cheating in the past. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), the organization that oversees the Olympic Games, did not adopt the first anti-doping regulations until 1964. Most experts agree that the issues regarding the use of performance-enhancing substances have become more complex since the 1960’s, as the number and types of such substances have increased.

During the 1980’s and much of the 1990’s, the IOC defined doping as “the administration of or use by a competing athlete of any substance foreign to the body or of any physiological substance taken in abnormal quantity or taken by an abnormal route of entry into the body with the sole intention of increasing in an artificial and unfair manner his/her performance in competition.” The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the independent drug-testing agency established by the IOC, has since simplified the definition. WADA defines doping as any violation of its rules related to the use of banned substances. The list of substances banned by WADA includes stimulants, narcotics, anabolic (muscle-building) agents, blood doping agents (agents that increase the number of red blood cells in the body to improve athletic performance), and masking agents (substances that make drugs difficult to detect).

Substances used in doping

Over the years, athletes have used a wide assortment of drugs to enhance their performance. These substances have included alcohol, caffeine, cocaine, ether, nitroglycerine, and even strychnine, a deadly poison. However, the substances used most commonly in doping can be classified as either anabolic agents or stimulants.

Anabolic agents

are mostly artificial forms of hormones, such as the male hormone testosterone or human growth hormone, that are used to increase strength and weight. Historians trace the widespread use of anabolic agents to the success of weightlifting teams from the Soviet Union in the early 1950’s. Team physicians administered testosterone to the Soviet weightlifters. Later, John Ziegler, an American physician, experimented with giving testosterone and other anabolic steroid hormones to himself and some American weightlifters. Several of these weightlifters went on to achieve championship status. During the early 1960’s, use of anabolic steroids spread to other strength-intensive sports, such as field events and football. Since then, athletes in many sports have used the substances.

In the 1988 Olympics, Ben Johnson of Canada defeated Carl Lewis in the 100-meter dash and set a world record. Three days later, the IOC announced that Johnson had tested positive for steroids and disqualified him.

Stimulants

work to combat fatigue and improve endurance. They can also create a sense of fearlessness. One of the most commonly used stimulants has been a group of drugs called amphetamines, which include Benzedrine, Dexedrine, and methamphetamine. By the late 1960’s, athletes used amphetamines in a wide variety of sports, including auto racing, basketball, baseball, boxing, cycling, football, rugby, skating, skiing, soccer, squash, swimming, tennis, track and field, weightlifting, and wrestling.

The dangers associated with the use of amphetamines in sports became dramatically apparent during the 1960 Summer Olympic Games. In those games, Knud Jensen, a Danish cyclist, collapsed and died during a race. Autopsy results revealed amphetamines in his blood. Years later, during the 1967 Tour de France bicycle race, the English cyclist Tom Simpson collapsed and died. His autopsy showed high levels of methamphetamine in his bloodstream. The IOC and other sports organizations subsequently established drug testing programs to reduce the use of amphetamines and other drugs by athletes.

Concerns about doping

Concern over drug abuse in sports stems partly from fears for the health and safety of athletes. Concern is also founded in several moral and ethical issues.

Safety concerns.

Many health experts feel that performance-enhancing drugs (PED’s), such as stimulants and anabolics, should be banned from sports for safety reasons. The known effects or side-effects of some PED’s, such as cocaine or amphetamines, have been shown to be dangerous. In addition, the long-term effects of some PED’s have not been tested or, in some cases, have not been tested at the high doses some athletes take or in combination with other drugs that athletes may take at the same time. Many health experts believe that this makes the drugs too risky.

However, other people argue that sports, particularly such sports as boxing, football, and auto racing, are simply dangerous. In any sport, almost all top athletes will suffer some type of sports-related injury in the course of their career. These people suggest that trying to protect adult athletes from harm intrudes on the athletes’ personal liberties.

Forcing athletes to use drugs.

The use of PED’s is widespread in some sports, such as cycling, weightlifting, track and field, bodybuilding, professional football, and professional baseball. In these sports, an athlete may feel that he or she must use PED’s to compete effectively against athletes who are using the drugs or accept a competitive disadvantage. However, experts argue that the decision to participate in the sport or use PED’s still lies with the athlete.

Concerns about fairness.

Sporting events emphasize a spirit of fair play. Many people feel that an athlete’s performance should reflect only the natural ability, intelligence, motivation, courage, and dedication of the athlete. Some people argue that PED’s are an external factor and therefore unnatural. In the case of anabolic steroids, which are derived from hormones that are naturally found in the human body, they would argue that taking these substances as PED’s raises the level of them in the body above what is natural. Others believe that anabolic steroids are acceptable as natural supplements. Some argue that anabolic steroids are no different from vitamins, aspirin, and other substances that are allowed within the rules of sports. They claim that the use of PED’s is like the use of specialized sports equipment, such as aerodynamic helmets in cycling. These devices, which are permitted, can also be considered as an unnatural enhancement for an athlete.

There is little doubt among medical experts and athletes that the use of some PED’s offers a competitive advantage. However, athletes who have access to top coaches, sophisticated equipment, and the latest training techniques also have significant advantages over those who do not. It would not be possible to eliminate all potential competitive advantages among athletes.

Moral and philosophical objections.

Finally, many people believe that doping in sports is morally wrong. They argue that sports should be a quest for personal excellence through competition, as well as a source of fun, enjoyment, entertainment, and friendship. Performance-enhancing drugs are unnecessary to achieve these goals. However, if winning a competition is the only goal of athletic competition, then the use of drugs to achieve victory makes sense.

Experts agree that doping in sports is primarily driven by demand. Athletes will continue to demand performance-enhancing drugs as long as sports fans continue to demand the high-level performances that doping brings.

History

Athletes have long used performance-enhancing substances to increase strength or overcome fatigue. To enhance performance, ancient Greek athletes drank a mixture of brandy and wine and ate sesame seeds and mushrooms. Gladiators in ancient Rome used a variety of stimulants to improve stamina for battle.

Modern medical science led to the development of new drugs used to improve sports performance beginning in the mid-1800’s. During this period, the use of stimulants among athletes was commonplace, and athletes did not attempt to conceal their use. This period also marked the beginnings of scientific experimentation with the muscle-building effects of hormones.

Recent developments

In the past, physicians and sports officials could detect the medical techniques that athletes used to improve performance more easily than today. Now, some athletes and their scientific advisers use skillful means to avoid detection. New methods, such as gels and transdermal patches, can be used to administer anabolic hormones through the skin. These technologies provide a slow, steady dose of hormones into the bloodstream compared to hormones administered through injection. The technologies make it more difficult to detect artificially raised hormone levels with doping tests.

In addition, dishonest scientists find new ways to chemically modify and adapt various drugs and therapeutic substances for athletic use. Tests designed to detect various PED’s may not detect modified versions of drugs or hormones.

Some experts believe the current use of anabolic agents and other PED’s may soon be replaced with genetic engineering techniques. These techniques actually alter the genetic makeup of individual athletes to enhance performance. Scientists have already developed such techniques in animal experiments, and genetic engineering would be difficult or impossible to detect in athletes.