Should Sports Doping Be Doping?

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.

For many years sports have played huge roles in human’s everyday lives. From entertainment, political, financial and to actually competing in them. The task for the sportsmen or women, especially in the top rank, is to beat the other competitors and get a good result from it. Here there is a high amount of pressure on many athletes coming from the media, coaches, themselves etc. They have the wanting to do well and achieve their goals and aims so much that some of the athletes turn to performance enhancing drugs. Obviously training for competition is the main thing to do but using drugs is another helper to succeeding. So, to their way of thinking, doping does not seem like cheating it just seems like

From the beginning of history, professional and amateur athletes have tempted to use legal or illegal drugs to enhance their performance (1). Athletes have used pharmacological agents, called Performance-enhancing drugs(PEDs), to enhance performance or to become leaner or more muscular (2). In sports, administration of drugs that are forbidden by international world anti-doping agency (WADA) is referred as doping (3). Anabolic androgenic agents (AASs) are the most popular agents that are abused by the athletes, especially bodybuilding athletes. Besides these agents, other classes of drugs such as stimulants and peptide hormones (growth hormone and insulin) are new PEDs that are abused by a lot of athletes in the different sports (1). Other than these compounds, athletes often use dietary supplements like creatine, protein, and vitamins to enhance strength and increase body mass (4-6).

Should athletes be stripped of their titles and medals for using sports-enhancing drugs? Do sports-enhancing drugs actually improve the athlete’s natural abilities to the extent where their abilities are no longer natural? These are the controversial questions that stem from athletes involved with sports-enhancing drugs. Substances that improve the performance of an athlete are classified as an enhancing drug. Anabolic steroids, human growth hormones, and even diuretics are some commonly used sports-enhancing drugs. The professional sports industry, in my opinion, is being defined by athletes who are using or not using sports-enhancing drugs. The athletes who are in the professional sports world today and are achieving greatness end up being on a form of enhancing drug in most cases.

The use of drugs date back to the ancient Olympic games. This is where the word doping originated from which was the Greek word “doop” (CITE). Performance enhancing substances also known as steroids are used for the improvement of human activity. Because drug use is also a huge thing outside the United States the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) was created as the first international governing body to prohibit doping. However, at the 1960’s Olympic the first athlete to die of doping was of the name Knut Jensen. He was a Danish cyclist who was found with narcotics in his system which resulted to his death. In result, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was established to fight doping. The United States created their own anti-doping agency called United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Therefore, drug testing is an important factor in professional sports world-wide.

Doping in sports has caused a lot of controversy throughout the years in the sports world from youth sports to the professionals. The World Anti-Doping Agency does their best to catch all the drug users but falls short with some people. This causes for an “unfair” advantage and goes against the true value of sport. It can make these players stronger and more athletic which causes more excitement for the fans to watch, more revenue for teams, and growing popularity. Using performance-enhancing drugs is banned in almost every sport, but with the allowed use of them could bring to the players and the sports teams themselves, could outweigh the negative effects of them being used in sports.

Substance Use & Misuse, written by Michael S. Bahrke (2012) examines the issue of drug use by athletes and intervention programs effectiveness. Bahrke (2012) clearly delineates the difficulties faced by doping athletes, the athletic organization, and the public. Sports organization depend on the athlete's performance and positive public perception to flourish. Therefore, it is not in the athlete best interest to admit or seek help with drug addiction because of most organizations’ policies regarding doping, most are in line with the WADA banning

The article “Overhaul of global anti-doping system needed.” by Sharmila Devi focuses on the idea that doping needs to be legalized in order to be used for study. There is the idea of reforming the system. Academics and scientists question how costly the global anti-doping framework is. Some even called for legalization. Many specialists would like to see the system innovated for medical research. However, specialists fear of condoning drugs if they speak publicly on their perspectives. WADA has representatives of public authorities and the Olympic movement. This agency has a list of 300 banned substances which include stimulants, anabolic steroids, and other drugs. Use of these drugs may result in health effects like risk of stroke, heart failure, and kidney damage. Harm may be reduced if some banned substances were allowed after after testing and regulation. Pitsiladis who has been on the committee believes

A group of scientists created a synthetic version of testosterone to treat patients who could not produce enough testosterone on their own for normal deveolopment of the body. During World War II scientists discovered that (AAS) could benefit soldiers who were malnourished. The soldiers gained weight back and could perform better than before. Later, when the war ended athletes began to use the snythetic form of testoserone (AAS). In the 1956 Olympics people noticed that Soviet wrestlers performed noticably better than before. Dr. John Zeigler a team physician for the U.S. weightlifting team also noticed how the Soviet athletes performed above average along with other countries athletes and later learned that they had been taking Anabolic Androgenic Steroids (AAS). In 1958, Zeigler created his own form of (AAS) in the form of Methandrostenolone with the help of Ciba Pharmaceutical Company. American athletes swarmed the drug and was only used among Olympic athletes but until the early 1970s (AAS) began spreading to other athletes such as professional and

Many professional athletes in this era rely on performance-enhancing drugs, such as steroids, to take their athletic abilities to the next level. Over the years, steroid abuse in sports has only gotten worse. This is where the controversy occurs because some people think that the usage of steroids should be legalized in sports, while others do not like that idea. The National Institute on Drug Abuse stated that, “Anabolic steroids are related to the male sex hormones such as testosterone. They promote the growth of skeletal muscle and the development of male sexual characteristics in both males and females” (NIDA). This is a brief definition explaining what anabolic steroids are and what they do. Anabolic steroids were first developed in the 1930’s in order to treat a condition in which the testes produced an insufficient amount of testosterone for normal growth and development. Shortly after, lab tests revealed that steroids were very helpful in the growth of muscle tissue. This lead bodybuilders and athletes to use steroids. Steroids are used by athletes in order to improve performance, build lean muscle mass, and increase strength and speed. There are many opinions on whether steroids should be legalized in sports or not. Some people argue that they provide an unfair advantage between athletes, stating that they should be banned. Others argue that steroids don’t provide athletes with skills, emphasizing that athletes achieve them on their own and not with the help of

This research paper will explain the history of Anabolic Steroids, also known as PED(Performance Enhancing Drugs), the purposes, the uses of Steroids, how steroids function, and long and short term psychological or physical effects. This paper will also show the impact steroids have had on sports, as well as, real-life examples of famous athletes or people that have been caught “doping”. Lastly, the strict rules and regulations on steroids that are being made in major sports will be shown. It is important to keep in mind that Anabolic Steroids use have gone up greatly as more athletes have used this drug to get an unfair advantage, also keep in mind that steroids have more of a psychological effect rather then physically, affecting the person

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.

This made it safe for human use. The discovery was so profound that both Butenandt and Ruzicka were awarded the 1939 Nobel Prize for their achievements in chemistry. By the 1940’s, anabolic steroid use in the Soviet Union was becoming common. Dr. John Ziegler, a US Olympic team physician found a way to develop methandrostenolone; commonly known as Dianabol. United States Olympic lifters would soon find testosterone and Dianabol dosing to be a part of their regular athletic routine. The impact the drugs were having on athletes were nothing short of impressive. Several studies were published suggesting anabolic steroid use had no positive effect on sports performance. At the time, this was done to discourage the use, but a lot of athletes didn’t know or care.

Doping has widely become known as the use of banned substances and practices by sports personnel particularly athletes in an attempt to improve sporting performances. No sensible fan of sport today denies the prevalence of drugs in virtually every major sport, yet none would argue they can ever be eliminated completely. Money alone would seem to guarantee that much. High profile athletes today are competing for high stakes, not just millions, but dozens of millions. The fear of losing everything career, opportunity, contracts, name, fame, and money is pushing more sportsmen all over the world to use performance enhancing drugs, mainly

Doping is cheating, and gives players an unfair edge. For example, blood doping can increase endurance by 38%, and in one test, a person ran eight kilometers 44 seconds faster. Similarly, human growth hormone was shown to boost a sprinter’s sprinting capacity by up to 4%. Furthermore, anabolic steroids were found to increase strength by 48%. PEDs need to be taken out of sports to make a level playing field.