Performance Enhancing Drugs: The Role Of Doping In Sports

Ready. Set. The crowd is cheering and the tension is high. Today’s competition determines who will represent the United States in the Summer Olympics. He is ready. As his cleats meet the track, he knows for sure he is going to come out victorious. His opponents know that he is determined to break another one of his records. Go! He is owning his lane. Keeping his pace, his mind is on the finish line. One by one, he surpasses each of his opponents. His chest is pounding, but he is not tired. Victory is near. The finish line chants his name as he crosses with triumph. He has broken yet another record. However, did he win fairly? No. Imagine a world where professional athletics are no longer entertaining because the competition is tainted. Imagine

Depending on how someone defines doping in sports, some stories suggest that the act of performance enhancement dates back to the original Olympics held in Ancient Greece (Rosen vii). Although performance-enhancing drugs have recently appeared in the mainstream media, these drugs have helped athletes gain advantages over their opponents for centuries. For example, gladiators used certain potions and foods which they thought may enhance their abilities on the playing field (Rosen vii). Like pharmaceuticals, PEDs have advanced as the years progressed. Performance-enhancing drugs first appeared in the 1960s. Since its debut in professional sports, doping in the sporting industry has been an extremely controversial issue. Once accepted by sport lovers, doping is now frowned on by commentators, fans, and most athletes. Some people feel that genetics can play an important role in the performing ability of athletes as much as certain substances can. Others feel that it takes the competition as well as the excitement away from the playing field while being extremely dangerous for athletes. Despite the compelling stories that come along with athletes and their usage of performance-enhancing drugs, it is important to ensure that performance-enhancing drugs stay far away from sports. It is key to protect the livelihoods of athletes as well as that of the sporting industry. Therefore, athletes should

These proponents also claim that PEDs are becoming harder to detect. These supporters feel that most athletes excel in their sporting fields without the help of performance-enhancing drugs. For example, Babe Ruth, the most notable Major League Baseball player of all times, has never used any PEDs to enhance his performance. Babe Ruth had a total of 1,330 strikeouts throughout his career. Another example is Michael Jordan. His shooting percentage is an outstanding 49.7 percent without the use of PEDs. According to Allen and Westerblad, the improvement in performances will be attributed to “better training and superior genes” (Allen and Westerblad 1112+). In addition to some athletes’ genes being superior over other athletes’ genes, PEDs are often hard to detect. Doug Brignole comments, “A guaranteed drug-free competitive arena is justifiable though it is completely unrealistic” (qtd. in Wang). For instance, some cyclists never actually tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs but rather their usage was revealed through personal confessions (Wang). Being that performance-enhancing drugs are hard to detect and genetics also play an important role in athletic ability, doping in the sporting industry is