Doping in Sports: What Does It Do To Athletes?
Written by Fiona Nikolla
With the 2024 Paris Olympics amongst us, it is a time of great unity in the field of sports. With athletes traveling to great lengths to willingly represent and play for their country, a load of pressure is put upon them to maintain a good standing. However, what length will athletes go to secure a spot on the podium? Skill is something that needs to be acquired through intense training and preparation that cannot be simply obtained overnight. Some countries though, have turned to another method to ensure their athletes perform exponentially better against their opponents. This method is known as doping, which is something that is highly banned in sports internationally and in the Olympic games. Nevertheless, players and even countries in the past have been prohibited due to their use of drugs to obtain an advantage.
What is Doping & Why is it Used:
Doping is the use of prohibited substances to promote an existential advantage both physically and mentally amongst athletes. Narcotics, anabolic steroids, and other androgen receptor modulators often aid in stimulating quicker movement and faster muscle development. Though there are various drugs that have multiple capabilities, they are used for the same relative objective. The most popular stimulative drug known as Erythropoietin or EPO is commonly used amongst athletes because it has been proven to increase oxygen consumption and stimulate red blood cells in bone marrow, obtaining more oxygen in the body. Cases of doping have proved to help certain athletes perform exponentially better even securing them a podium spot. The intense stress, financial opportunities, and media coverage of competitions are among some of the main reasons athletes choose to use the doping method. This is because the field of sports is simply not a hobby; rather, it is a new industry that can open doors for many opportunities that many hopeful athletes strive for. Based on performance this can allow for sponsorships, money, and the potential to be more publicized in the industry, creating an even higher net worth. Everyone aspires to be like top athletes in the sport they adore; nevertheless, major athletes like Simone Biles or Michael Phelps all become well known in the industry because of their developed and maintained skill performance.
Instances of Use:
Certain players and countries have entirely been prohibited from participating in large sports events because of their doping usage. As far as the Olympics, some of the countries that have been banned because of this include Russia and Kenya. Russia, a country banned for four years amid a doping scandal, has been noticed for its usage amongst its players. During the 2022 Beijing Olympics, a notable member of figure skating known as Kamila Vaileva assessed positive for banned substances, even after earning her country two gold medals. She tested positive for the substance trimetazidine, which is a heart-stimulating drug. This is just one instance of Russia’s scandal that bans them from participating even in the 2024 Paris games, also because of their ongoing war with Ukraine. Kenya was only banned in 2015 due to having over three hundred athletes that used banned dosages just before the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016. These scandals are just of the few that prevent other athletes from having a fair advantage at these games, creating an environment to help prevent these unwanted circumstances.
Further Prevention & Consequences:
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is an agency created in 1999 to establish a set of rules, ensuring that there is a clean act in place for sports. In the context of the corporation, it has also created a twenty-four-page rule book that outlines to what extent certain drugs can be used and which are prohibited altogether. Current policies also require that all competitive athletes must undergo regular testing, specifically for a wide range of drugs that do not include those needed for medical purposes. WADA has also tried to find a commonality among the doping drugs used and only specifically evaluate those in certain cases. However, if certain countries competing show a lower possibility of usage amongst their players, fewer tests can be conducted. These policies collaborate with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ensure that all players and countries admitted to the games are approved under the applicable circumstances. Though doping seems it greats an upper hand to athletes, it can also have a drastic impact on their overall health. Some of these long-term effects have included a development in kidney failure, as well as certain mental and other physical factors that can vary depending on the drug used.
Doping is a scandal that though may secure a gold medal or spot on the podium, creates an unnecessary advantage that takes a toll on the body and overall health. Even throughout the current Olympic games, there have been instances where athletes have been accused of doping for performing exceptionally. Some instances have even proven that the athlete has not been actively using drugs, making this whole shame also an insult to those players who truly put in the time and continuous effort to perfect their field of sport. Sports and more so the Olympics, is a time of great union not focused on the metal count or rankings, but the observance of superior performances and ultimate sportsmanship.
References
https://www.wada-ama.org/sites/default/files/2022-01/2022list_final_en_0.pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6311632/
https://theconversation.com/seven-steps-to-reboot-the-fight-against-doping-in-sport-61587
Written by Fiona Nikolla from MEDILOQUY