Pros And Cons Of Lance Armstrong Drug Testing

1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, seven consecutive years Lance Armstrong was the Tour de France winner. Not until after he retired did he confess his true story about using PEDs (Performance Enhancing Drugs) to win and cheat the drug tests (Khing 52). Seven years in a row he beat the drug test and didn't get caught. Even with the rumor that he was cheating the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) who was responsible for testing in the Tour de France did not try to change their testing for the better to make sure Lance Armstrong was not cheating.Even though many changes would have to be made in sports, drug tests need to be stronger because too many athletes cheat the drug test and it puts other competitors at a disadvantage.

In the 2000 Sydney Olympics Antonio Pettigrew, a runner for the US men's 1,600-meter relay team had admitted to using PEDs before and after the race (Jendrick). But the drug test did not catch him in the act of doing so, it failed its main purpose and showed how people could still cheat in the Olympics. The Olympic committee when testing athletes for drugs provide too many reasons for athletes to miss the test, also they test to infrequently (Jendrick). A solution to this problem is to act like the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) if an athlete misses a drug test date they will receive the consequences as if they were to test positive ("Frequently Asked"). Another solution from the NCAA is to have randomly selected dates and athletes, so they cannot prepare to cheat the test and instead they will get caught for their

In the MLB (Major Baseball League) a first time use is a fifty game suspension, a second time offense is a one hundred game suspension and the third time is a season long (Egendorf 48). In the NHL (National Hockey League) the first time offense is twenty games, second offense is a sixty game suspension, third time offense is a lifetime ban(Egendorf 48). In the NFL ( National Football League) a first-time offense is a four-game suspension, a second time is eight games and a third time is a one-year suspension (Egendorf 48). Lastly, in the NBA (National Basketball Association), a first-time offense is a ten game suspension, a second time is a twenty-five game suspension and a third time is a ban from the league (Egendorf 48). The sports that have a ban from the league as a third-time offense have the lowest drug or PEDs use players