Introduction
Recent debates and attention over performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) have triggered the need further to understand the effects of the drugs on the body. Further understanding of PEDs is mainly an area of concern for athletes (Kabiri, Shadmanfaat, Howell, Donner, & Cochran 2020). According to some anti-doping organizations, PEDs affect the human body and its biological functions. The drugs can significantly improve the performance of athletes. However, they can be dangerous in particular situations. Essentially, the medical use of PEDs is to treat delayed puberty and some types of impotence. Therefore, the use of PEDs is seen as one of the major crimes in athletics and sports in general.
Background Information
Competing in the modern professional sport is the dream for many. However, suspicions have increased in the contemporary sport that many prominent athletes have shifted to using PEDs to improve their performance (Loland 2018). The origin of PEDs usage in sports dates back to the ancient Olympics, where athletes would eat certain foods to gain an edge over their competitors. Economic incentives and pressure to win gold medals are factors behind the use of PEDs. Since 1999, over 190 PEDs have been banned.
Usage of PEDs in Sports
Throughout the past ten years, performance-enhancing drugs have become common. Different stakeholders in sports have argued against the prohibition of PEDs since sports organizations use a lot of funds in anti-doping screening. According to Loland (2018), the production of these drugs and the methods used to detect them involve sophisticated science and staying ahead of the game. The most common PEDs used in sports include beta-blockers, anabolic steroids, human growth hormone, stimulants, and diuretics (Mudrak, Slepicka & Slepickova 2018). Anabolic steroids, for example, increase athletes’ muscle mass and strength by increasing testosterone production. They also help with the recovery from workouts by eliminating and healing muscle damage during workout sessions. This allows athletes to work harder without experiencing severe risks of overtraining. Marijuana facilitates recovery and pain control. Therefore, these drugs help increase athletes’ physical prowess and give them extra energy during physical activities (Kabiri et al. 2020).
As world athletics continue to grow worldwide, anti-doping technology continues to discover new ways to curb sports and drug testing methods. Fair competition ground is critical in sports to promote competition while allowing competitors equal winning opportunities. Therefore, anti-doping screening controls cheating (Zakhem & Mascio 2019). Since winning is one of the significant reasons for doping in sports, it is seen as a powerful endorsement for individual players and teams. Incentives encourage athletes to use an enhancement to earn higher social status in society. This status, in turn, gives them power and prestige. Additionally, some athletes are influenced by the power and property of their competitors. Other than improving performance PEDs have therapeutic and treatment of medical conditions purposes. Several pieces of research have indicated that athletes generally experience peaks in physical conditions while others experience long-term health problems that would require medical intervention. Therefore, PEDs in sports for fair treatment of medical conditions usually apply for the drug’s therapeutic use exemption (Kabiri et al. 2020).
Several athletes have been banned from sports after testing positive for certain PEDs. On September 24th, 1998, Ben Johnson, a Canadian track star, won 100m in South Korea (Kettler 2022). Later evidence indicated that Johnson tested positive for the steroid stanozolol. As a result, he lost his gold medal to his closest American rival Carl Lewis. In 2003, Marion Jones, who then was a coach of a track star, announced that several athletes were using steroid tetrahydroestrinone, which had been undetectable by tests. In 2007, she admitted to using the drug, a move that made her lose five medals, three silvers, and two bronze she had previously won in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney (Kettler 2022). At the same time, she faced a sentence of six months in prison for cheating allegations about the use of the drug. In December, the world anti-doping agency banned Russia from participating in the Olympic Games and world championship sporting events following the manipulation of test results from the Moscow laboratory in 2014(Kettler 2022). However, the court reduced the ban to two years. Due to these and other doping allegations in athletics, the international Olympic committee created a zero-tolerance policy to curb doping practice and hold accountable individuals responsible for utilizing doping drugs. The organization works to prevent PEDs usage through detection, deterrence and educating athletes about the effects of using the medicine.
To sum up, PEDs usage in sports is a common phenomenon. The usage could be for medical purposes or to improve their performance. The drug’s use for medical purposes is permitted, while doping for personal reasons involves fines. Several factors influence athletes to use PEDs, including gaining higher social status in society financial incentives. Using these drugs in sports could lead to unfair competition since athletes would not have equal opportunities to compete. This means that competitive individuals can lose while the less competitive ones lose due to enhancement. The world anti-doping agency and the international Olympic committee have developed different policies and testing mechanisms to cover all athletes who register under the agency to curb these problems. Since the agency’s formation, there have been significant improvements and fewer doping cases in sports and athletics.
References
Kabiri, S., Shadmanfaat, S. M., Howell, C. J., Donner, C., & Cochran, J. K. (2020). Performance-enhancing drug use among professional athletes: a longitudinal test of social learning theory. Crime & Delinquency, 0011128719901111.
Kettler. S. (2022). Nine doping scandals that changed sports. History.
Loland, S. (2018). Performance-enhancing drugs, sport, and the ideal of natural athletic performance. The American journal of bioethics, 18(6), 8-15.
Mudrak, J., Slepicka, P., & Slepickova, I. (2018). Sports motivation and doping in adolescent athletes. PLoS One, 13(10), e0205222.
Zakhem, A., & Mascio, M. (2019). Sporting integrity, coherence, and being true to the spirit of a game. Sport, Ethics and Philosophy, 13(2), 227-236.
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