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Doping in Sports and in the Olympics By Sofia Finnemore | Photography by Jake Chan | Layout by Ningjing Huang
What is it, why is it done and when did it a risk to the athlete’s health, it is contrary to the spirit of the sport” (ACMT, 4). Furthermore, start? According to the American College of Medical Toxicology, "doping" refers to the usage of banned drugs, treatments or medicines by athletes in order to enhance their own performance (ACMT, 1). Especially over the past few years, doping has received more attention not only because of its growing forms but also because of the popular cases where the news of an elite athlete having doped spreads like wildfire (ACMT, 1). Prior to the existence of performance enhancement drugs, athletes often followed strict diets to maximise their sporting performance; however, these days athletes prefer to opt for drugs given the quick short term performance benefits (ACMT, 2). Doping in sports was first found during the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis when an American marathon runner named Tom Hicks was given a bit of strychnine by his coach. At the end of the race, he collapsed and had to be revived by four doctors and his coach admitted to doping him. However, even after the admission, his medal was not taken away and he showed no remorse (Kremenik, 2).
depending on the degree of doping that an athlete participates in, they can suffer punishments as severe as never being allowed to participate in any sporting competitions ever again (ACMT, 5).
WADA and the Punishments for Doping
Drug tests can be done either via urine or blood samples; the difference being that some treatments such as growth hormones can only be detected in the blood (Wade, 4). How the tests actually work is that each athlete has a biological passport (ABP) which monitors select biological variables (like blood proteins) in their samples over time so as to catch any spikes should they occur (Wade, 2). These tests are done by the athletes national anti-doping agency (Wade, 5). If WADA thinks that the country’s tests aren’t vigorous enough then they will inform the IOC for immediate correction (Wade, 5). There are not only scheduled in-competition tests but there are also out-of-competition unscheduled tests so that athlete’s can’t time their doping to make sure it is
Following the ban on doping by the International Association of Athletics Federation in 1928 which relied solely upon the athlete’s conscience and morals, once the technological world caught up with the need to test for banned substances, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was created by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1999 (ACMT, 3). WADA was made to educate people on the long term risks of doping, further the research into the effects of doping, test different methods for the highest success in doping detection as well as actually carry out drug tests (ACMT, 3). According to WADA’s code, a treatment counts as doping if it meets two of the three following criteria: “It enhances performance, it presents 70 XH26.indd 70
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What different doping methods do athlete’s use? There are four main types of drugs each with an aim of their own including: Anabolic Steroids: these are derivatives of testosterone and help to increase one’s muscle mass (ACMT, 7). Stimulants: these help to increase the athlete’s stamina, reduce the feeling of fatigue and/or pain and also improve their mental function (ACMT, 8). Hormones: these help to stimulate their body’s natural protein production, thereby increasing their muscle mass (ACMT, 9). Oxygen Transport: this method aims to increase the athlete’s blood volume thereby also increasing the amount of oxygen in their blood via blood transfusion (AMCT, 10).
How does drug testing work?
XIAO HUA 27/5/2022 7:23 AM
