I believe that the 2012 London Olympics Australian Men’s 4x100 Freestyle relay team should be sanctioned for their inappropriate behaviour and the breach of their agreement with the Australian Olympic Committee. The culprits from the relay team, who are now known as the Stilnox Six, were Eamon Sullivan, Matt Targett, James Magnussen, James Roberts, Tommaso D'Orsogna and Cameron McEvoy all of whom I believe should be sanctioned with a two or more year ban from swimming Australia as well as being issued with fines. Their actions involved taking the banned drug Stilnox, disrupting other Olympic swimmers preparations and failing their duty as role models and representatives for Australia. I believe that the Stilnox Six should most definitely be …show more content…
held accountable for their irresponsible and childish actions and sanctioned accordingly. Firstly the Stilnox Six has broken their agreements with Australian Olympic Committee and Swimming Australia by taking the banned prescription drug Stilnox. They claimed that their use of Stilnox was purely to provide them with relief from the stress of the Olympics and to have one night as a normal person. However, being a professional athlete comes with, like any other occupation; a certain set of skills and requirements you need to possesses in order to carry out the job. In the case of an Olympic athlete they are paid by the government with our tax payer money to be physically and mentally fit in order to achieve Excellency for our country in their particular sport. By taking Stilnox the Stilnox Six portentously inhibited their physical performance, not performing at their optimal level during the race which I consider to be an abuse of the tax payer dollars that our athletes are payed with. There is no excuse for government funded athletes to be taking banned substances when there are resources available to them such as psychologists and therapists to aid with mental preparation or problems. In the taking of Stilnox and abuse of government funding the Stilnox Six has acted irresponsibly and I believe that they should be sanctioned accordingly. Additionally, during the lead up to the 2012 London Olympics as well as during other training camps the Stilnox Six disrupted other athlete’s preparation through their inappropriate behaviour and childish pranks.
According to the Australian Times, Emily Seebohm a member of the 2012 London Olympics Australian Swimming team reported that on the night before her first swimming trial she was woken by a prank call from the Stilnox Six at 11:30pm. The Stilnox Six denied these allegations, Eamon Sullivan claiming that every member of the relay team was in bed by 10:30pm that night. A six month investigation later found that the Stilnox Six had lied about the events of that night and that they had in fact woken several other athletes as well as entering the room and disrupting female members of the swimming team late at night. It is utterly irresponsible and unfair that the Stilnox Six disrupted other athlete’s preparations for the Olympics when many of them were stressed and they needed to compete the following morning. As professional athletes their performance in competition is very important for getting sponsors and winning prizes providing them with a financial income. At this elite level of competition a lack of sleep could have jeopardised the performance of the athletes disturbed by the Stilnox Six therefore hindering their income. I believe that the Stilnox Six should be held accountable for their childish behaviour and lack of discipline and sanctioned
accordingly. Furthermore, the bad decisions and irresponsible behaviour of the Stilnox Six has negatively impacted the reputation of Australian Olympic athletes as well as altered the culture of swimming in Australia. The actions of the Stilnox six at the 2012 London Olympics gained wide spread media attention with The Sunday Age saying “They were a disgrace to their nation”. Media around the world reported the situation in a similar negative light and naming the men’s 4x100 relay team the ”Stilnox Six”. This negative portrayal impacted on the reputation of not only the athletes involved but also Swimming Australia who lost sponsors, received a reduction in government funding and as a result had to cut jobs as well as the already low athlete’s salaries. The Stilnox Six’s actions have also negatively affected the culture of swimming within Australia as they are role models for young and upcoming swimmers and have demonstrated to them that being normal is taking drugs, getting drunk, going to parties and pulling childish pranks. The Stilnox Six have clearly not taken their responsibilities as representatives of Australia and role models for Australians seriously and should be sanctioned accordingly. In conclusion, I believe that the Stilnox Six should most definitely be sanctioned for taking the banned drug Stilnox, disrupting other Olympic swimmers preparations and failing their duty as role models and representatives for Australia as there is no excuse for this type of behaviour and it should not be tolerated.
Ethical Rules on Sport’s Justice. Dallas: East Dallas Times, page 21. 2008. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. Print: Harry, Patrick Hayes.
Citius, Altius, Fortius is the motto of the Olympic games. Translated from Greek, it means "Faster, Higher, Stronger". Recently, Olympic contenders have been doing everything they can to live up to that motto. Most do it by training hour after hour, each day. Others try to do it by illegally taking performance enhancing drugs. This is why we need to test for drugs at the Olympics. Drug Testing in the Olympics began only recently in the 1968 Games held in Mexico1. Drugs are banned for two very good reasons: the use of drugs produces an unfair advantage, and it is hazardous to the athlete to take them. While drug testing is now commonplace, the procedures are still fairly primitive and arouse much controversy2. We all remember the Andreea Raducan situation from the Sydney Olympics. She unknowingly had consumed a performing enhancing drug that was in her cold medication. Her medal was revoked as soon as the drug test results got back.3 While Andreea was caught, many others who intentionally "doped up" weren't Many of the drugs or procedures out there, still can't be tested for, and more and more athletes are cheating. Most of the drugs and procedures have adverse long term effects, some resulting in death. The drug tests are detrimental to the existence of the Olympics and need to be upheld at all costs.
Wilson, Stephen. “Doping Incidents Shake Sports from Swimming to Track & Field.” Seattle Post- Intelligencer, Seattle, Wash.,.1 Aug. 1998: E6.
Sexual assault, abuse, and rape by athletes is a devastating crime. These crimes by themselves are horrendous, but when committed by athletes there are many different factors involved. Through extensive research this paper will show contributing factors that may result in assault, abuse, or rape by athletes. Special treatment for athletes throughout their career, belief in sexual male dominance, and the role of alcohol are all important factors. Other crucial factors are the attitudes and responses of: society, juries, victims, coaches, and athletes. This paper will explore all these issues and show that changes need to be made in all the areas to combat the growing percentages of sport assault, abuse, and rape against women.
...igh standards. She was in a tense environment where a lot were expected out of her as she performed and people around her were doping, putting her at a disadvantage unless she took the drug to enhance her own performance. I am glad authorities only took away her wins from 2000 onwards instead of tking away all of her wins and medals altogether. Also, I would have done what the US Olympics Committee did and have banned her from the Olympics as well because if I let her still participate in the Games after this big doping incident, I would contradict how anti-doping the Olympics are. I know this is tricky to say but Marion Jones could have altogether refused the steroids and avoided this whole incident from happening. That is very much possible. But it is silly to ponder over the “what-ifs” at this point. I believe authorities appropriately handled this doping issue.
..., this would lead to chaos, indiscipline, a breakdown in social order and a failure in the ethics of sports. The World Anti doping Agency has joined with the medical team in order to maintain and monitor the standards deemed appropriate by the Anti doping Agencies, to promote healthy sportsmanship for all competitors.
More and more, of our society views winning more important than itself. Success in competition brings status, popularity, and fame, not to mention college scholarships. Today’s athletes are looking for an advantage over the competition that will make them winners. Unfortunately, the drugs of today are caught up in the high stakes competition frenzy. Of this reality, teenage use of performance improved drugs is growing ever more popular. In colleges and in the professional league a lot of people are doing drugs and its ruining their health and life. Also, if some teenagers take performance drugs they are making them better than everyone else giving themselves an advantage over everyone else which is cheating, so why should they get money for using drugs to win, how do we know they aren't actually good at the sport? Performance drugs in sport should not be tolerated and should be illegal. Stores shouldn't give teenagers drugs that way they can do well in a sport. Many student athletes want to make their families proud by doing something their mom or dad never done.
“Ecstasy”, a drug with many different opinions and views, is often viewed as a killer, which is a stretch of the truth. The drug is sometimes thought of as one of the worst things in the world, but also as the best. Health issues are a problem and there have been some deaths .The deaths though are no way near the number of alcohol or cigarette deaths. How could such a beautiful word be considered such a horrible thing . Ecstasy can kill, but you can die tomorrow by being hit by a car or getting shot, why not live your life to the fullest. Live everyday as if it were your last, but don’t be stupid about it. Ecstasy does not kill a person, that’s just the excuse they use for ruining their life or killing themselves.
One of the largest and most problematic health issues in our society is smoking. Smoking is currently the leading cause of death in our country, due to its harmful and addicting contents, such as nicotine and tobacco. Although millions die from it each year, smoking is the single most preventable cause of death as well. Without smoking, a tremendous amount of money and lives will be saved. I think that our country should ban smoking and the production of cigarettes in order to maintain a healthier nation, help save the environment, and prevent the almost 1000 deaths that they cause in fires each year.
"C'mon, Chris, you get in the shower first," Taylor ordered from the other bed. "You're already up." Chris conceded and worked his way to the shower. Everyone in the room knew it too, due to his grunting and whining under his breath. Soon enough he was out of the shower and so were Taylor, Anders, and I. We ate breakfast with the rest of the team downstairs in the hotel in silence. It was too early to talk or chat. Everyone knew that one thing was going to be on their minds: winning. It was not worth discussing, either. Everyone knew that our varsity eight was possibly the strongest that McCallie had ever had, and that we had a good chance of winning some gold medals that day, if not a great chance. We loaded on the bus like ants, noiselessly flowing into one little opening. The bus ride was silent all of the way over as well. Everyone's heads, looking intently forward, were slightly jostling along with the bumps in the road. Some tried to sleep, but the tension and excitement was too much for most of them to be successful.
Everyone is aware of the role that these athletes have to do. We should not look at the inappropriate actions of few athletes. The. I was biased to believing that all athletes are bad before I started. doing my research for this paper.
Many people believe that drug use in professional athletics is not a serious problem, however it is more widespread and serious than people think. In professional athletics the use of drugs is looked upon as somewhat of a serious problem, but is also very discrete and low key. Every once in a while one might see a prominent figure in a certain sport being reprimanded for the use of some outlawed drug, however this is just one of the many who happened to get caught. Athletes today seem to find no moral problem with using performance-enhancing drugs, or in other words cheating. Also many of them feel that because they are "stars" there should be no repercussions for their illegal activity.
...thlete under twenty-four hour surveillance is neither feasible nor lawful. Only when there are more accurate tests can the enforcement of drug rules and regulations be possible. As more sophisticated tests come to market, fewer drugs will escape detection. With the limited ability of current techniques to catch athletes red-handed, pressure must be put on the athletic community to reject doping. Until the athletic community refuses doping as a means to an end, little can be done to stop it from happening.
The sale of cigarettes and tobacco is a multi-billion dollar industry, but is it truly worth all the problems that stem from their use. Health care costs are extremely high due to all the health problems associated with cigarettes and tobacco. Even though research has proven time and time again the harmful effects of cigarettes, and the rising cost of health care caused by cigarettes our government will not take a stand and stop all manufacturing of the horrible toxins.
Overall it is clear that the need to use performance enhancing drugs is outweighed by the consequences and issues caused by performance enhancing drugs. Sporting events such as the world cup, the Olympics or the World Series make young children feel inspired and encouraged about what they could achieve through dedication and hard work. I feel it is important for the sporting industry as well as the athletes to return respectability to the sport. By