Performance Enhancements In Sports Research Paper

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”).

PEDs and steroids provide better stamina, stronger muscles, and more muscular endurance. "Society cares because steroid use is a form of cheating. Since steroids work so well, they create an unfair advantage for those who take them, and this breaks the social contract athletes have implicitly agreed to: We are going to have a fair contest. There are things we can and cannot do. Even if there were a safe performance-enhancing substance, if it weren't available to everybody, using it would still be cheating" (Dillingham). The end game will be actions that are increasingly violent, extreme, and meaningless, practiced by a class of chemical and or genetic mutant gladiators. The use of performance-enhancing drugs is not accidental; it is planned and deliberate with the sole objective of getting an unfair

William Shakespeare’s, Macbeth, displays what a man is willing to do to obtain the highest level of power. When Macbeth is first introduced, he is viewed as a man with great gallant and heroism - as he is able to prove his loyalties to the King of Scotland, Duncan. However, Macbeths masculinity begins to come into question, when he lets the three witches’ prophecies guide his decisions on his journey of becoming king. Shakespeare approaches manhood and womanhood ambiguously. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are the center of attraction when it comes to gender roles.

Such studies examine whether sports lead athletes to define and experience their bodies as machines designed to produce entertainment and profits for others rather than feelings of pleasure for themselves. (Coakley, 1998) Meggyesy described this phenomenon when he said:

Historical National Football League coach and manager Vince Lombardi once said, “Winning isn 't everything--but wanting to win is”. The want to win, is real; it is embodied by the usage of performance enhancing drugs. Blood doping increases the count of red blood cells in the body, anabolic steroids accelerate the growth of muscle and strengthen the bones, and stimulants increase alertness, competitiveness, aggressiveness and reduce fatigue. All of these materials have clear benefits but the health implications are still very present. Many cases of injury from these substances have consequences as serious as death. Athletes worldwide put their bodies and health at risk due to the usage of performance enhancing drugs and methods such as blood doping, steroids, and injections. But in retrospect, it harms a lot more than just an athlete’s body; in fact, performance enhancing drugs and supplements plague the athletic playing field worldwide, which leads to social unrest, health issues, and even political issues.

“... ever since the rise of anabolic steroids, the modern international sports arena has become something of an arms race, as athletes vie to get a competitive edge before regulators can catch them in the act (Jussim, 2016).” Everyday, competitors are pumping drugs into their blood, in hope of becoming the best athlete who ever lived. They [athletes] can never get enough of this gym candy, and eventually the substance will win, and become the best killer that ever lived.

Dating back to ancient times, a wide variety of substances have been used to enhance an athlete’s performance, and with new biochemical and technologic advancements on the horizon, we will see this practice unscrupulously continue (Duncan, 2013). The factors that motivate this behavior are probably many, but when athletic performance equates to the high salaries and lucrative endorsements reaped by today’s professional athletes, any additional help to gain an edge is certainly a powerful motivator. For the non-professional athlete, other less tangible forces; such as vanity, competitiveness, or praise may drive people to seek these enhancers.

The Queen who claimed to have been a king. Sounds confusing, right? That’s just the start to this story. Let’s start from the beginning Queen Neelix, mother of all beauty. Every man wanted her and not gonna lie, probably some women.

Its seem too often these days: the metric rise of an athletic superstar, with fans that marvel at his strength, quickness and agility and then, in an instant the accusation of drug abuse and the subsequent investigations probations, suspensions and even permanent bans from the sport bring the rise to a screeching halt. For sports fans, its often an impossible thing to understand why would a professional

The scene is set. It is 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, and the final heat of the Olympics is about to commence. The sprinters have been training their entire lives for the opportunity at hand, and the outcome of the most important event of their lives is going to come down to mere milliseconds. With a gold medal on the line, these athletes will be looking for any advantage they can get, whether big or small. One direction these athletes turn for an advantage is supplements. Supplements have emerged as a way for athletes to increase their performance, yet their use is very controversial. Supplements, varying from simple multivitamins to complex chemical supplements, are used by almost every athlete, whether recreational or professional,

Do you want to want to become the peak athlete that you know your body is capable of? Well, this paper will not do that for you, but it will tell you how, and it will tell you why it should be legal to do so. Doping in sports is one of the most extensive debates within the realm of athletics. Whether it be injecting anabolic steroids, consuming them, or blood doping, athletes will do drugs. Doping has no effect on the viewership of the sport. Athletes can always find ways to cheat the system, and trying to prevent the use seems impossible. The use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) should be legalized, as long as it is allowed under medical supervision.

A world track and field athlete and former basketball player, Marion Jones, stated, “I have never used performance enhancing drugs. I have never taken them and I will never take them.” Marion, however, is an anomaly. Many professional athletes often become so entangled in being the best and being on top, they often forget the reason why they fell in love with the sport they play. They become more involved in their personal success rather than the success of the team. Performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) have propelled the mindset of personal success over team success, and professional athletes have been lured into the trap of the “benefits” that PEDs offer. While many professional athletes cannot resist the benefits that performance enhancing drugs offer to amplify their skills, studies show these drugs

In sports, the competitive drive to win can be very intensive between athletes. Winning in the game usually brings rewards to athletes both financially and psychologically. Such temptations and the consecutive pressures faced by athletes to excel in the sporting events, attempts to achieve a rival edge especially when the application of performance enhancing drugs by athletes in sports activities has becoming a new trend and relatively common. Performance enhancing drugs are used so athletes could achieve better results with least efforts, even as their health and their athletic careers will be placed in danger. That explains why athletes, sports people and body builders turn to performanc enhancing drugs.

It wasn’t until the late 19th century that drugs were prepared with the intention of helping athletes. French cyclists and lacrosse players would drink a mixture of wine and coca leaf extract to prevent fatigue during their long races and matches and prolong their bodies exertion. In 1904, these PEDs had reached the modern olympics for the first time with mixtures of strychnine, heroin, cocaine, and caffeine used widely by athletes which led to each coach or team developing its own unique secret formula for their athletes. This was common practice until heroin and cocaine became a prescribed medication in the 1920s. In 1958, the FDA approved its first Anabolic steroid for sale in the US. This anabolic steroid called Dianabol was released by Ciba Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Zieglar, The scientist behind Dianabol, noted the success of the Russian weightlifting team due to the use of testosterone in 1954 and began experimenting on US weightlifters. His creation maximized the strength-building properties of testosterone while minimizing the negative health effects from other testosterone boosters. These newly found drugs were just the beginning to the “doping” age that we know of to this day.

Doping in sport has been prominent since the Olympics were first introduced in Ancient Greece, with competitors supposedly ingesting Strychnine as a performance enhancer (Fitch, 2012). This has continued into today with new research commencing weekly investigating performers using performance enhancing drugs in a world where the difference between first and second can cost an athlete millions in sponsorship and reward money. The regulation of doping in sport was not introduced until the 1960’s, when the sudden death of a cyclist at the 1960 Rome Olympics was attributed to the amphetamines in his system taken as a performance enhancer. Consequently this kick started the fight against doping with the IOC creating a list of prohibited substances in 1967, containing mostly stimulants. World Anti-Doping Agency (2003 [online]) states that “The spirit of sport is the celebration of the human spirit, body, and mind.” and is characterised as keeping true to “ethics, fair play and honesty; health; and respect for rules and laws.” (p.3), this alludes to the fact that doping is in breach of these characteristics and should be eradicated to maintain the spirit of sport. This essay will review current thinking about performance enhancing drugs in elite competitions, the research undertaken and the resolutions suggested.