Illegal Use of Performance Enhancing Drugs in the Olympics

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Illegal Use of Performance Enhancing Drugs in the Olympics

Since the original Olympic Games in ancient Greece, athletes have struggled to find a way to gain the competitive edge. Early rituals included consuming wine and brandy before an event, eating potent mushrooms, and even concocting magic potions thought to give the athlete improved performance ability (Phillips, 2000, p.53). A constant battle has been fought as the International Olympic Committee struggles to keep drug testing up-to-date and effective. We have come to associate drug use with a few famous names of fallen heroes, such as Ben Johnson and the most recent, C.J. Hunter, but few people realize just how widespread drug use is in Olympic sports and how small a percentage of offenders ever get caught. This presents the International Olympic Committee with one of its greatest challenges: trying to keep its drug testing procedures at a par with the technology of today’s pharmacists. Should the International Olympic Committee just face the facts and realize that athletes will continue to try and use performance-enhancing drugs, and hence turn their backs and act as though nothing is happening? I feel as though they should become more stern toward athletes that are caught, and let the world know that they are going to do whatever they can to catch those who use these drugs.

Certain sports quickly come to mind when we think of performance-enhancing drug use. We think of bodybuilders and weightlifters when drug use is mentioned. But not many would list track and field as a sport in which performance enhancing drug use is prominent. "What seems clear, however, is that the use of performance enhancing drugs is a problem mainly for the athletes of track, field and swi...

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Sources

Alesia, M. (2000). Performance enhancing? In some events, even drugs can’t trump skill. CBS Sportsline. Retrieved March 15, 2001

http://www.sportsline.com/u/ce/multi/0,1329,2773853_15,00.html

Begley, S., & Gordon, D. (2000). Under the shadow of drugs.Newsweek, 136(15), 56.

Kowalski, K.M. (1999). Steer clear of steroid abuse. Current Health 2, 25(7), 13-16.

Looney, D.S. (2000). No easy answers ahead on Olympics doping. Christian Science Monitor, 92(221), 12.

Mishra, R. (1995). Steroids and sports are a losing combination.

US Food and Drug Administration. Retrieved March 14, 2001

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/CONSUMER/CON00107.html

Phillips, A. (2000). The Olympic drug cloud. Maclean’s, 113(41), 52-54.

Superhuman heroes. (1998). Economist, 347(8071), 10-13.

Toward dope-free games. (2000). Christian Science Monitor, 92(202), 8.

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