Drugs Have Degraded Sports

Drugs Have Degraded Sports

Traditionally the diverse range of sporting events falling under the category of athletics have been associated with integrity, honour and honest effort, however the changing face of today's contemporary society and the attitudes, morals and standards existing within it has brought with it many changes to this ancient sport.

From these changes the following hypothesis was formulated. "The modern day perception of athletics is one that, for me, is very detrimental to the sports high popularity, ancient rituals and traditions. Due to the commercialisation of the sport, the financial incentive for athletics to succeed far outweighs the motivation for personal achievement and fair competition. This has lead to unfair means being adopted by athletes in order to succeed, such as the use of performance enhancing drugs. It is because of these 'cheats' that this once noble sport, based on hard work, individual achievement and sportsmanship has been degrade into a sport of greed and winning at all costs. The increase in the number of athletes using these drugs is inversely proportional to my personal interest and participation in the sport."

This hypothesis accurately summarises athletics current state and the opinion held by more and more members of the general public.

Commercialisation has brought with it many positive aspects to athletics including higher recognition for talented athletes, increased financial rewards and increased media coverage but commercialisation, sponsorship and media involvement have also contributed largely to the demise of the sports good standing. All of the above topics are derived from monetary involvement and this can be related to the common saying 'money is the root of all e...

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...when he stated, "Winning the gold medal is mandatory from a marketing perspective. There is little commercial value in winning silver or bronze." This attitude is also adopted by spectators and participants alike, meaning that winning is the only thing that matters and that it should come at all costs. No longer is it a sport to be enjoyed by all, only the select few elite athletes that have access to the best in performance boosting drugs gain any recognition and their satisfaction is through monetary reward. For the average man or woman there is no longer any enjoyment in being involved with athletics whether it be from a spectators perspective, when watching a group of athletes compete for who has the best drug available, or for participating, when your honest personal best is substantially eclipsed by a less talented competitor who has a better drug than you.