Doping is the illicit use of performance enhancing drugs that have been banned by authorities. Such drugs are banned because they pose health risks to participants, to enhance equal opportunities amongst all athletes and because drug-free sports have an exemplary effect. Nonetheless, unscrupulous athletes still cheat during athletic events by using such banned substances. This paper will delve into the matters of doping in athletics. The topic is very important because it delineates the unethical use of performance enhancing drugs in order to gain an unfair advantage over other competitors. This goes against the spirit of competition.
Effect of Doping on Athletics
Many athletics events have been marred by allegations of doping amongst participants. Media coverage of doping scandals in athletics has brought the issue to perspective at the detriment of the sporting institution. Previously, the issue remained covert and was seen as no more than a cheating problem. However, the scope and sophistication of doping practices makes it a threat to sporting and over. The current proportions of doping are worrisome to the society. With increasing stakes in the sporting world, and the phenomenal widespread of doping, the health of athletes is increasingly being at risk and the moral values associated with sport being increasingly questioned (O'Leary 89).
The scope of this problem is exemplified by some examples of doing that have marred the sporting world in the past and present. A physician and a pharmacist in 1986 were found to have sold 2000 phials of tonedron, a banned substance at over 150 times the shelf price. Over 200000 tablets of anabolic drugs that were intended for muscle building were intercepted in Lille in 1995. In the 2000 Olympics, Marion Jones, an American sprinter won five gold medals only to be stripped of all her titles and medals won in the sporting event after admitting to using banned substances.
The Olympics is a global event pitting athletes from many countries. The recent doping scandal in Tour de France also brings the issue of doing to perspective. The doping case resulted in Lance Armstrong, the unprecedented seven time winner being stripped of all his seven titles. He eventually admitted to doping. The effects of this are far reaching. The athlete won his titles between 1999 and 2005 by having an unfair advantage over his fellow compatriots. This is immoral and unethical and casts doubts in the competitive nature in the sporting world.
The health risks that athletes are predisposed to due to doping are also noteworthy. Anabolic agents used by athletes to build their muscles have physiological and psychological problems. They may cause liver damage, stunting, depression and suicide due to withdrawal and aggressive sexual behavior sometimes leading to criminal behavior. Other gender specific risks include impotence for males and cessation of breast development for females. Owing to this, it is evident that the effects of doping are not exclusive to the sporting world but also permeate the social fabric to hurt the society (Miah 23).
Personal experience with doping
As a student of physical education, athletics is one of favorite past time activities. I am inspired by the exploits that athletes have had in their various fields. Through athletics, famous individuals have earned themselves a livelihood and kept healthy through the rigorous training regimes that are part of their daily routines. During the Olympic Games in 2000, the American sprinting team was in top form. Members of this team were also part of the track team for short races like the hundred meters sprint. I was rooting for the American sprinting team and to my delight; they won all the events from the hundred meters to the relays.
I reckoned that this was the epitome of conquest after many days in the training filed. The triumph of the American team reignited the spirit of sportsmanship in me and the power of competition. However, the doping case involving Marion Jones, the star of that all conquering team demoralized me. This scandal tarnished the fabric of the sporting world with never ending blemish. Doping at such an international stage was not only immoral but also unethical and against the spirit of competition. Nonetheless, I took something positive from that experience. Since then, I have been an active participant of campaigns discouraging the use of steroids and other anabolic substances in teenagers.
Effect of doping sports programs
As espoused earlier, the Olympic Games offers an international stage for athletes to show case their sporting abilities. This international stage has also been exploited by rogue athletes who want to take short cuts. The Seoul Olympic Games in 1988 were marred by numerous cases of doping. The most significant case in the games was Ben Johnson. The athlete won the gold medal in the hundred meter sprint. He late tested positive for Stanozolol, a banned substance. He was consequently stripped of the gold medal and suspended from athletics for two years. Many medalists in this sporting event also suffered the same fate with investigations showing that almost all the finalists in the hundred meter sprint won by Ben Johnson had consumed banned substances (Rosen 114).
Conclusion
The widespread cases of doping show how the sport has been worshiped by athletes. Doping goes against the competitive spirit in sports and gives athletes an unfair advantage over others. It is also immoral and unethical and its use in sporting activities goes to show the moral decadence in the society.
Works cited
Miah, Andy. Genetically Modified Athletes: Biomedical Ethics, Gene Doping and Sport. London: Routledge, 2004. Print.
O'Leary, John. Drugs and Doping in Sport: Socio-legal Perspectives. London: Cavendish Pub, 2001. Print.
Rosen, Daniel M. Dope: A History of Performance Enhancement in Sports from the Nineteenth Century to Today. Westport, Conn: Praeger, 2008. Print.
