Performance Enhancing Drugs In Sports Essay

The use of performance enhancing drugs by professional athletes, or “doping” has been acknowledged as a problem since at least the 1960’s. There are several types of performance enhancing drugs: stimulants, human growth hormone and supplements. All these are simply awful and should not be considered using by anyone at any means. Therefore, I believe athletes who dope should have to forfeit their personal achievements such as trophies and medals. What do ethics, fair play, fun and joy, dedication and commitment, and respect for rules and laws have in common? It’s simple, they are all values that characterize the “The Spirit of the Sport”. The use of performance enhancing drugs, or P.E.D.S for short, violets the ethics and moral of any sport. The World Anti-Doping Agency (W.A.D.A), stated the following in the Mar. 2003 World Anti-Doping Code: "Anti-doping programs seek to preserve what is intrinsically valuable about sport. This intrinsic value is often referred to as 'the spirit of sport'; it is the essence of Olympism; it is how we play true.” Doping is fundamentally contrary to the spirit of the sport.

They are their role models for them. They emulate their training regimens, style of play and ultimately by their drug use. The use of performance enhancing drugs can destroys one’s image of an idol when it comes to modeling. A great example of this is when Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles after the International Cycling Union decided he was a ringleader of a doping program on his winning cycling team. Many loyal fans of his him and his work ethic, primarily the youth were in distraught. When a professional athlete admits to using steroids, the message young athletes hear is not always the one that is intended. Young athletes often believe that steroid use by their role models gives them permission to