The sport of Track and Field originated in Olympia, Greece 776 BC and is now one of the premier sports of the world. Track and Field includes running, jumping, and throwing events. The sport, unlike many, can take place both indoor and outdoor. Every year, millions of athletes take part in Track and Field events worldwide. And to no surprise, Track and Field events seem to always steal the spotlight at the Summer Olympics every four years. Sadly, the sport has had a handful of athletes each year be associated with doping. If the athlete is in fact doping, he/she will be sanctioned. When an athlete is sanctioned, he/she has a penalty imposed on them. The penalty for being sanctioned can result in a part-time suspension or at times a lifetime …show more content…
Having high standards can often lead to missed opportunities to do something. As stated before, Track and Field has been plagued with numerous athletes that show signs of possible doping. From 2001-2012 alone, there were signs that of the 5,000 athletes tested, 800 of them showed signs of being “highly suggestive of doping or at the very least abnormal”(Epstein). Unfortunately out of the 800 possible candidates, “The vast majority of athletes with suspicious test were never sanctioned”(Epstein). Having high standards on who to and who not to consider a possible candidate comes at the expense of letting a few slip away. As a matter of fact, in a study conducted to see how many athletes would be caught with a 99 percent chance versus a 99.9 percent chance, the numbers spoke for themselves. The test showed that “when the 99 percent probability was used, 10 of 11 subjects who were transfusing blood as part of the anti-doping research were caught through biological passport testing. But there was also one false positive. When the probability limit was set to 99.9 percent, only eight of 11 doping subjects were caught, but with no false positives”(Epstein). If the calculations are indeed correct, when the bar is lowered from 99.9 percent to 99 percent, it increases the possibility by twenty percent. Although that may not seem like a lot in such a small field, consider the 800 athletes …show more content…
When someone has done something wrong and knows they are being looked for, they often hide. And in some cases, athletes in Track and Field hide when they know they have done wrong. Still to this day, WADA requires that athletes fill out a “whereabout requirements.” This originally started in 2009 “Where potential Olympians had to fill out forms letting anti-doping authorities know where they would be for at least one hour each day — between 6am and 11pm — for the next few months”(Epstein). It is understandable for those athletes who aren't doping to be frustrated, but how mad can they be when it’s their job. And also with random drug test, athletes can no longer claim that they just “stepped out briefly”(Epstein). Consequently, having regular drug test gives the athlete an idea of when to stop the using the substance and possibly when to hide. In one case, an athlete admitted to hiding because he knew that he was going to be tested. Tyler Hamilton, the testee, admitted that “we hid” when asked why he had missed his drug test. Having random drug test will also give those at the testing labs authentic samples. Athletes who are tested similarly to Track and Field athletes like Mike Tyson, admits to having used false urine to pass a drug test. With random drug test were the testing crew is there, the athlete will not have time to come up with ways to prepare for the
In “The Real Scandal,” Sharon Begley and Martha Brant develop an argument against the tacit allowance of the use of “banned” performance-enhancing drugs among Olympic athletes. The 1999 Newsweek cover story details incidents involving individual athletes caught using banned substances, the continuous race between the discovery and detection of new performance-enhancing drugs, and examples of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC’s) complacency. In particular, the authors question the validity of the IOC’s current drug testing policies and protocols within the context of their self-defined role to “lead the fight against doping in sport” and “encourage and support measures protecting the health of athletes” (Organization). In order to better argue against doping in sport and advocate for more efficient and rigorous drug testing, Begley and Brant employ emotional appeals, logic, and a kairotic stance within their writing to persuade their audience of the necessity of firm action by the IOC and the worldwide community on the subject of performance-enhancing drug abuse.
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.
Have you ever been to a horse race? Seeing the riders give their horses a pat and an apple after the race, people cheering for their horse as it runs rapidly to the finish line? Seems like a great time. But what happens to those horses after they are done their race. What happens to the people who gambled their family’s lives savings. All horse racing should be shut down due to the well being of the horses, the effects of gambling, and the lack of interest.
For centuries sports has been the favorite past time and for decades drugs, steroids and Performance enhancing drugs and regular street drugs have been used. In many locker rooms the motto is “if you’re not cheating, you’re not trying” (Schafer). Over the past decades many see the need to drug test athletes in order to maintain integrity of the sports. Drug testing athletes has to many lawsuits and even has gone to the U.S. Supreme Court many times because some feel that drug testing is an invasion of there privacy. Albiet, drugs have increased the entertainment when watching sports, it has also decreased the sportmanship and integrity. Drug testing is a deterrent that is needed in all sports to decrease the number of unethical players while increasing the integrity of a given sport.
If athletes were to be tested before every game, the use of performance enhancing drugs would be reduced drastically. This would cause younger athletes to stop using the drugs as often, make the games/matches more fair and equal, and it would cause the athletes to be healthier. Athletes ruin their lives and give themselves a bad reputation when they take performance enhancing drugs. When a professional athlete is caught using performance enhancers, they do not go undisciplined. For the first infraction, the player is suspended for the first game, for the second infraction, the player is suspended for one hundred games and for the third infraction, the player is banned from playing a professional sport for their lifetime. Is losing your professional career really worth it when you take the performance enhancing
Student athletes live very busy lives. A typical school day runs from 8:00-2:30, add in a two- hour practice or game, score a part time job, dive into some family time, a grand slam of homework and catch a little bit of sleep. Students are more stressed due to the many activities they are a part of. This issue affects a lot of people not only in this school district, but most other high schools throughout the country. All student athletes exercise more than other children who are not involved in an extracurricular sport. In school athletics, the players are called “student athletes” meaning that school activities come first. There are strict rules for student athletes, not only on the field but in the classroom as well. In physical education
For one, steroids should not so easy to get ahold of. Secondly, there needs to be more drug testing. Maybe they should try weekly or monthly drug test. That could possibly scare the players into staying clean. However, “the effectiveness of testing has been questioned as well. At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, there were only two confirmed positive drug tests. For some observers, these low numbers confirmed that athletes had become very successful in circumventing drug tests. Some athletes hide and submit false urine samples. Many use drugs as a training aid between competitions, then stop taking them long enough to test “clean” at the Olympics themselves. Some athletes are turning to substances that occur naturally in the human body, making detection of cheating even more difficult if not impossible (Dudley. 2001).” If the player has already stopped the use but feels depressed or is in pain, they could try other medications for the depression and muscle pain and/or joint pain. There has to be at least one effective way to help end the use of steroids. However, getting ahold of steroids is easier than it should be. Monthly/weekly drug testing could be a good idea, but there are still steroids out there that do not show up in a urine sample. Teams should find new trainers who know the effects steroids have and will not put the players career in danger. Regardless, someone or something needs to
Jacobs and Newton believe that one of the main groups that are singled out for drug testing is athletes. They also believe that singling out athletes and assuming that they are using drugs violates the constitutional right of their innocence until proven guilty (?Jacobs and Newton? 3). Mandatory drug tests for college athletes are a must have to enforce the rules of the game and to also not give athletes an unfair advantage. Lee and Griswold state in their article that there are rules in competitive sports that must be enforced, including a rule that bans muscle builders such as steroids (Lee and Griswold 2). Letting these college athletes compete with having broken these rules would not provide an equal competitive opportunity. Therefore, leaders in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) should create a mandatory drug test for all college athletes because this test would help strengthen the rules of the games, ensure an equal competitive opportunity for college sports, and decrease the use of performance enhancing drugs and street drugs by college
Confucius once said, "he who does not do well is less guilty than he who pushes too hard." People found that competitive sports are often physically straining and it is detrimental to proper emotional development. This blows away the misconception that competitive sports create a healthy and engaging atmosphere for kids. This and an overly strong obsession with winning create a toxic mix for the child’s wellbeing. People have begun to realize the world of competitive may be doing more harm than good for their children. Parents have also begun to notice that competitive sports often injure their children severely and also make the child feel left out, which in turn is detrimental to the child 's emotional health. Therefore, competitive sports
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.
Drug use in sports is considered cheating. Doping has many historical backgrounds, but now it is on a larger scale in order to maximiz...
He sprints up and down the court, as sweat pours down his face and on to the hardwood. The player’s legs are in severe pain, and he is out of breath, yet he continues to run, utilizing every last portion of energy that he maintains. He desires to better himself, not necessarily for his own benefit, but for the benefit of his team. He knows that every single member of the team, including himself, must work as hard as they possibly can on the court to reach their potential and achieve success. Organized sports teach athletes some of the most powerful moral values and life lessons that any individual can attain. Despite the opposing opinion that students who take part in organized sports suffer academically due to time deprivation and focus misdirected away from the classroom, involvement in sports teaches young men and women to maintain imperative values, such as hard work, selflessness, and commitment, which ultimately improves student-athletes’ academic performance.
The usage of performance-enhancing drugs in sports is commonly known as Doping. Doping is banned worldwide in every sports administration and competitions and doping gives an unfair advantage to those using illegal substances, such as steroids to boost their performance. It also puts at stake the integrity of those athletes who do not use performance-enhancing drugs also known as “clean” athletes. In fact it seems that we’re now entering the era of performance-enhancing drugs within professional sports. 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.