Some athletes seeking to push the boundaries of their personal performance may find it inviting to clutch a competitive advantage by looking beyond their own training and diet. And on the world's biggest stage, the Olympic Games, there are all too many instances of athletes who have turned to the use of doping to gain a benefit on their competitors. In Olympics history, cheaters often face punishment quickly. No matter how clearly the rules are defined for all Olympic athletes, debates over what actions should be punished, and how severely, undergo under the committee. The committee that makes the decisions on who competes in the Olympics have a very challenging job when it comes to doping situations. In my opinion, I do believe they are violating a code of ethics by allowing athletes that have a pervious history with doping to play in the Olympic Games. First off, if an athlete even thinks that taking performing enhancing drugs will be the only way to win, then it’s pointless to have the privilege to compete. Cheating is never the answer. Getting caught doping once would make it hard to trust any athlete to come back clean. The committee should look for people who express fairness and greatness without the use of drugs. Athletes caught should have their medals taken from them because they …show more content…
After his first Tour de France victory in 1999, he immediately became a superhero. As his popularity grew, so did the profile of Livestrong. Livestrong was his charitable cancer organization that was branded by Nike. He had it all going for him. But his seven Tour de France titles were annulled in 2012 after years of suspicion concluded in the exposure of a doping scheme with Armstrong’s U.S. Postal Service Team. Armstrong delivered a public speech apologizing profusely, but his reputation was already tarnished. (Kendy,
“It 's important that athletes can compete on a level playing field. And youngsters coming into the sport can know that if they are working hard and training hard, they 'll see a true reflection of where they stand and what they can achieve worldwide and not be swayed by people who are cheating.” This was said by Paula Jane Radcliffe, a long-distance runner and Olympian. Cheating in sports is considered to be immoral. In sports there are many different forms of cheating. Whether it is illegal taping, bribes, or foul play, it is never the way to go. Undoubtedly the most extreme and controversial form of cheating is through the use of PEDs, better known as Performance Enhancing Drugs. There are many different types of Performance Enhancing Drugs. The two most popular being anabolic steroids and
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.
Athletes put their lives in danger by using performance enhancement drugs. They use these drugs to gain physical advantages for their sporting events. These methods have been around for thousands of years. According to research, “In ancient Greece, Olympic athletes would ingest huge portions of meat that contained testosterone and creatine before they competed. They would also consume large quantities of alcoholic beverages and lamb testicles” (“Steroids”). Today, sportspersons have a drug policy due to health hazards, violence and incapability’s of normal performances. From lamb chops to steroids, many athletes are willing to destroy their bodies to become “popular” legends.
In the summer of 1970, Armstrong was allowed to publicly perform again and play the trumpet, and after a successful engagement in Las Vegas, Armstrong began making commitments around the world, including in London and Washington, D.C. and New York (“Louis
Each day, professional and amateur athletes and body builders thrive to achieve their goals and dreams of winning gold medals or representing their country worldwide. The sports or games in which they participate require physical strength, athleticism and stamina, and due to the tough competition they face, some of these athletes decide to take performance enhancing drugs, an act called doping.
...ther competitions, by wrong and unjust means. And consequently, the sports commissioner s of all the sports have to ensure that the players in a particular sport are not using steroids or any other similar drugs, and for that they often have to direct the medical staff in a particular sport to check the athletes, that whether they are using steroids or any other similar drugs. And in case, if steroids are located in their bodies, then the sports commissioners have to conduct thorough investigation, which eventually, results in unique unprecedented punishments for such athletes. Therefore, it s extremity imperative for these Professional athletes to realize the fact that they are the current role models for the future athletes, and can quite significantly influence the young athletes, all over the world, through any sort of misconduct on their part (Haupt & Rovere,
The desire to compete — and win — is as old as history itself. From the beginnings of sport, athletes have sought out foods and potions to turn their bodies into winning machines. As early as 776 BCE, the very first Olympic games, there are records of attempts to increase testosterone levels (“Steroid Abuse in Sports”). Ancient Greek wrestlers ate vast amounts of meat to gain muscle mass, and Norse “Berserker” warriors took hallucinogenic mushrooms before battle. The first competitive athletes to be charged for doping, however, were swimmers in 1860s Amsterdam. Doping of all kinds, from caffeine to cocaine to anabolics quickly spread to other sports (“Anabolic Steroids, a Brief History”).
Unfortunately, some athletes in the eagerness to reach this goal, end up passing the limit of what is considered ethical. The big problem is that some athletes, due to the lack of orientation, end up being punished and labeled as unethical without even knowing what is happening. As for example accepting to take certain supplements given by their trainer to enhance their performance.
Athletes are always searching for ways to enhance their performance. Recently, beginning in the 1950s, that search has included the use of illegal substances like steroids and growth hormones. Illegal substances have been used widely by athletes in hopes of achieving the desired Olympic gold medal or multi-million dollar contract. Some nations, for example the late East Germany in the 1970s and 1980s, have mandated the use of steroids by their athletes. The downside of using those illegal substances is that because they are illegal, getting caught using them can lead to losing that coveted gold medal, a lifetime ban from sports, and a total loss of honor and dignity.
Currently it is an estimated that at least 6.67 percent of high school seniors in the United States have tried steroids, which is 500,000 males between the ages of 17 and 18 (Anabolic Steroids). The pressure of steroids on teenagers is constantly drilled into their heads because they associate increased strength with perfection. Teenagers are under immense pressure to be perfect. Kids are pressured to do well in school, sports, and any other activities that they are participating in. Anything other than the best is unacceptable and failure which strikes and leads to disrespect. Failure has the sole purpose of tearing people from their self confidence and lending them to be insecure, questioning their abilities and themselves. It does not help that kids have role models that choose the easy way to accomplish their goals. It also sends a message to those who admire them that taking certain sacrifices to reach self-goals and standards are very much acceptable. Hard work and determination has become something of the past when it is possible to do the same amount of work and receive results faster if you just take a couple risks. Steroids should not only be banned from sports, but athletes who are found to have used steroids should receive a more distinct and severe punishment. No matter how it is said or defended steroids truly are cheating. Steroids are becoming a substitute for hard work and determination.
Drugs have been around for thousands of years but their reasons for being used has changed. Drugs were originally intended for medical uses. In ancient Egypt, physicians prescribed tannic acid to treat burns. The early Chinese and Greek pharmacies included opium used as a pain- killer, while Hindus used cannabis and henbane plants as an esthetic. With the advances in technology drugs have become more helpful yet more deadly.
It is amazing what athletes will do to achieve higher levels of performance and to sometimes get the extra edge on the competition. Most of the time people do not realize the long-term effects that result from the decisions they make early in life. This resembles the use of steroids in a person’s life.
Turning sports into a way of life instead of a leisure activity has generated fierce competition for athletes to be the best at what they do. Having a "natural ability" no longer is enough. One must work long and hard hours to gain an edge on the competition. However, these days, even good training cannot guarantee a victory. For athletes and coaches the drive to be at the top is so great that they look for shortcuts to their end goal: winning. The one who wins is always the one who is remembered in the end; finishing second is worse than finishing last. When this type of attitude becomes predominant, it is not so surprising that they try any and all methods of cheating the system. In this way, doping has become a common practice for athletes to gain advantage on their competition. Is this a practice that we as the general public should accept, or is there something we can do to change the status quo?
Drug use in sports is considered cheating. Doping has many historical backgrounds, but now it is on a larger scale in order to maximiz...
Doping rids the true athletes of what they truly deserve and is wrong; because why should those who put in a hundred per cent of their effort, be outshone by individuals who are choosing to use substances to enhance their physical and mental abilities? Doping damages the sports industry as a whole because it has a serious physical and mental effects on the athletes, as well as damaging the idea of sportsmanship and it also breaks the trust of the fans, as they realise their idols are hypocrites. Doping in sports dates back to the ancient Greek times (need ref here). There are anti-doping agencies worldwide in virtually every country. In Switzerland its anti-doping Switzerland, in Nigeria it’s the Nigerian national anti-doping committee and in the UK its UK anti-doping.