UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST OF SCOTLAND
E S S AY O F S PO RT & S O CI ETY ‘COCAINE IN SPORTS’
GEERT HOPMANS B00219141 F R I DAY
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The Lord of the Rings is the nickname of a Dutch gymnast who won a lot of medals in the rings. Yuri van Gelder was just 22 years old when he took the gold in the men’s rings at the 2005 European Championships in Debrecen, Hungary. In the same year he also became world champion at the 2005 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Melbourne, Australia. Thanks to his performances in 2005 he was elected for the Dutch ‘Sportsman of the year’ and he won the election (Yvangelder, n.d.). Yuri van Gelder can be seen as the first Dutch world champion in gymnastics. Beside his performances in the rings, he was working for the military of the Netherlands. He was the Sergeant First Class of land force. It seemed like nothing could go wrong in his future. He was very successful in his social career until the 13th of July, 2009. On Monday the 13th of July, 2009 Van Gelder revealed that he used cocaine three days before the Dutch Championships of 2009. In the press conference he said that he already used cocaine for more than three years. In 2006 his coach Remi Lens did not want to work anymore with Van Gelder because he was using stimulants. The NOC*NSF Dutch Olympic Committee*Dutch Sports Federation- did not undertake any further actions. The Committee knew about his addiction, but they did not do anything like giving him a suspension. Van Gelder became in the last few years third and second at the World Championships, and two times first in the European Championships. After becoming first at the Dutch Championships of 2009 Van Gelder was tested positive for cocaine. It all started just for fun, but after all it became a habit. Van Gelder said that it was about curiosity and being cool, but now he thinks he was absolutely stupid and he regrets his lapse (Blythe, 2009). The purpose of using was just for recreation and not to make a profit. During the press conference Van Gelder said cocaine would not enhance the performance. In the next quote of Dr. Gary Wadler it is proved that Van Gelder is wrong:“the acute effects of cocaine probably, overall, would impair and not enhance performance. BUT within a two-hour window, you may actually have some enhancement - overcoming fatigue, reaction time, and so on,” (Alper, J., 2007). The matter in fact is that cocaine is on the drug list. So Van Gelder was not allowed to use it, because it could decrease his alertness and fatigue. Because he tested positive he had to return his last gold medal and had been suspended by the Dutch Gymnastics Union -KNGU-. The Dutch military undertook also a disciplinary action. They fired their Sergeant First Class because he did not follow the drugs policy of the Army (Stouwdam, H. 2009). Beside of losing his job at the Army, he also lost his face of being a role model. His name is no longer connected with only the rings. From now on Van Gelder is more connected with cocaine. His reputation is damaged so his private sponsors as Lotto and Quick dissolved the sponsor contract between them, because otherwise the image of the sponsors will also be damaged (Stouwdam, H. 2009). In July 2010 Van Gelder returned to the sport after serving a yearlong ban for cocaine use. A couple of months later the team manager of the Dutch team removed Van Gelder for medical reasons of a personal nature. Hans Gootjes -team manager- create an image of a fall back into his former drug use. The next day Van Gelder gave a reaction why he was acting strange the last period. He said that he could not handle the pressure of the 2
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sport anymore. Also he feared to disappoint himself, because he was out of form (NU, 2009). In the last months he had not been nearby cocaine and he is still clean. After some qualifications he did some drug tests and those were all negative. But who believes an addict? In recent years more than one hundred professionals athletes in all kinds of sports have publicly admitted using cocaine. The rising of use of cocaine has become a social problem in sports. In the main body of this essay there will be some examples of those players given. The question of this essay is; MUST RECREATIONAL DRUGS SU CH AS COCAINE BE LEGALIZED IN SPORTS ?
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M A I N B ODY
Cocaine -also known as coke, snow and crack- is a stimulant drug. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system and it leads to the influence in mood, thought and behaviour. Cocaine is an addictive drug that comes from the coca plant and it can be snorted, smoked or dissolved in water and then injected. Snorted is the process of inhaling coke powder through the nose. The high from snorting cocaine may last 15 to 30 minutes because absorption takes more time. If you smoke the coke, it will reach the brain very rapidly in high dosage and you will be high for 5 to 10 minutes (Talktofrank, n.d.). Another method is to inject a needle with the drug, it will directly insert into the bloodstream. All three methods can lead to addiction and severe health problems like HIV. It is a fact that if you take drugs it will have harmful consequences on the individual and even on our society. Cocaine has been used for two purposes, recreational and scientific purposes. Nowadays most people use the drug for recreational reasons (ESPN, 2009). The drug makes the user feel euphoric and energetic. It reduce the fatigue and increase mental alertness. Many athletes in the past took cocaine because they thought it improved their games. A lot of basketball players were thinking that they were more alert. They can dribble more than their opponent because of the reduce of fatigue. But the fact is that the effects of cocaine on the performances of athletes is little or there is no effect. The effects can last up to three hours (Keller, D., J., 1994). There are too many negative effects of cocaine on the health of athletes and individuals. Taking drugs may bring physical and psychological effects on individuals. Many cocaine abusers have said that the first time they used cocaine was the most pleasures’ one. After increasing their dose, they experienced the negative effects of cocaine. Cocaine raise the blood pressure, increase the body temperature or the blood vessels can burst. It can also cause headaches and complications such as abdominal pain. When you regularly snort the coke, it can lead to loss of the sense of smell and problems with swallowing. If you like to inject with a needle you can increase the risk for contracting HIV/AIDS or other blood diseases. One of the most negative effects of cocaine where you have to worry about are the abnormal heart rhythms and the chance of an acute heart attack, which may cause sudden death. Cocaine abusers can also experience a psychosis. After using cocaine the user can have mental problems like hearing voices and feelings of paranoia. Beside mental problems, they also have behavioural problems like becoming violent, having insomnia and losing their concentration (NIDA, 2009). Another problem of drug addicts is a social one. If they will not stop with using cocaine, the addicts can lose their family, friends, relatives and work easily. Cocaine is very addictive. It is difficult to say NO! to coke when you have used it before. Over time the use of cocaine leads to neurochemical changes in the brain. Those changes say that the user want coke, it will be feel like an intense crave (Talktofrank, n.d.). There is a chance that people tempt to take more cocaine after they stopped, because they have mood swings and they feel terrible. Even when they see a mirror, white powder like salt or razor blades the crave for the drug will hunker (ESPN, 2009). It is illegal to have drugs, to give it away or to sell it. All sports organizations have banned cocaine, as well for amateurs as for professionals. The reason why the sports 4
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organizations have banned it is because they want to protect the health of the athlete and the reputation of the sport. If an athlete is using cocaine he can be detected up to five days after it is used. But when an athlete is using cocaine more often, he can be detected in 22 days after it is used. On the doping list belongs cocaine to the doping category S6. Stimulantia (Dopingautoriteit, 2009). Cocaine is on the doping list because the substance satisfied two of the three criteria, which is (possibly) performance-enhancing and (potentially) harmful to the health of an athlete. The third criterion is it contrary to the spirit of sport. Some athletes have used cocaine but they were not suspended. In case of Tom Boonen he was not detected during the competition. In Belgium are two kinds of detections; one is during the competition and the other detection is when the person is out of competition. It depends of the country what the suspension will be, but in most cases it is between three months and two years. Why do athletes use cocaine? Athletes are just as human as we are, but the only difference is that they are seen as a role model. They are a public figure. The impact of drugs in the sports industry is increasing more and more. Every time there are new technologies to improve the skills of an athlete. The main reason why professional athletes are using drugs is due to the major competiveness of sporting industry in today’s society. A lot of athletes fail in their performances, so they grab to the drugs. They hope their performances will improve and that they would not get caught. Beside the competiveness of sporting industry, athletes do whatever it takes to be the number one. They like adventures and challenges. If you are adventurous, you can become a victim of drugs more easily. Most of the people who are adventurous are also curious about a lot of things. They like to try out new things for example what the effects are of cocaine. Athletes have a lot of pressure. They must perform well otherwise they will not be the number one. If you cannot handle the pressure or you do not like being all the time in the spotlights, you can find a way out in drugs. Cocaine gives you a boost -like more energy- when you are feeling tired of travelling around the world from Grand Slam to Grand Slam. If you use some cocaine you would not feel that tired anymore. Beside all these things there are always your friends who have a big influence on you. If your friends are using drugs, they can force you to use it too. If you could not say NO to your friends or you want to look cool in front of your friends, you are an ultimate victim. There are three issues which are very important if you use cocaine or not. First of all is your personality. You must have the personality or you must think about it to use it or not. Secondly, the cocaine must be available and at last there must be an opportunity -occasion- where you can use it. If you do not have the personality to take some drugs, you would not get it. If one of the three issues is missing, you will not get the drugs. Andy Parkinson is the UK Anti-Doping Chief Executive who send out a statement of intent that doping will not tolerated in this country. The Report Doping in Sport line is there for athletes, support personnel and concerned family to pass on information about the use, supply or trafficking of doping substances (Sportengland, n.d.). If there is any suspicious or evidence they have, they can call anonymous 0800 032 2332. “Any information is welcome, no matter what kind of little information. It could be the missing link, that enables to take action and protect the sport from those who want to cheat”. The minister for Sport and Olympics by the name of Hugh Robertson thinks it is a good initiative to fight against drugs in sport. “This initiative protect the integrity of sport. Doping is the biggest threat of London’s 2014 Olympics” (Sportengland, n.d.). The Report Doping in Sport has got partnerships with the World Anti-Doping Agency, 5
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UNESCO, the Association of National Anti-Doping Organisations, the Council of Europe and the International Anti-Doping Agreement. The UK Anti-Doping functions include an education and information programme where athletes are tested across more than 40 sports (UKAnti-Doping, 2011). The maximum penalty for a serious doping offence has been doubled from two to four years. Athletes who made a mistake in their past will have one second chance to show the world that they can act their sport without drugs (Slater, M., 2009). As written in the introduction there will be some examples of players who have used cocaine. Each athlete in a different sport and with a different story. -CyclingOne of the best climbers in professional road bicycle racing was Marco Pantani. Il Pirate was his nickname and he was the first Italian after Gimondi who won the Tour de France. In the same year Pantani won the Tour de France he won also the Giro d’Italia. The year of 1998 was really successful for him. The crowd loved him because of his special appearance. He wore always a bandana, his head was shaved and in his ears he got earrings. He seemed like a bad boy. In a period of six years Pantani was amazing. He loved to attack and ride aggressive. That is also the mean reason why he was the fans favourite. There were always rumours of Pantani’s cocaine habit, but he was never tested positive during the competition. Pantani tried to get rid of the coke, but he did not succeed. The highest point of his addiction was when Pantani was having a meal and pulled a packet of cocaine out of his pocket. One of his friends wanted to stop him, but they got into a fight. After this accident the friend told the newspapers; ‘It was the last time I saw him’. A lot of people think that Pantani started to use cocaine after he was thrown off the Giro d’Italia in 1999 on the day before the last day when he would won the race. One week before Pantani died he spoke to a journalist and said that he knew where his addiction would end up. ‘Dead’, he said (Guardian, 2004). Some people were considering it was suicide, but autopsy revealed he got a heart failure. A few months later some press releases announced that Pantani’s dead was because of an overdoses of cocaine. He took too much cocaine and poisoned himself. Franck Vandenbroucke died in Oktober 2009. During his road racing cycling career he got ups and down. Especially in the beginning of his career everything went well. From 1995 till 1999 Vandenbroucke won a lot of races. The most successful year of Vandenbroucke was 1999, but also in this year there was the first contact between him and Bernard Sainz. Last person was named in alleged drugs scandals. Vandenbroucke was arrested two times. The first time was in Paris in 1999 because of a drugs problem, but he was released (Abt, S., 1999). In 2001 he was caught again, because the police found small quantities of drugs in his house (Goldsmith, P., 2002). Another drug story of VDB was when investigators found the name of Franck in a case of gang drug dealers. The story is that VDB a customer was and he used cocaine for recreational use (Cyclingnews, 2008). The former successful racing cyclist got more and more problems. From depressions, socially isolated, firing weapons, relationship breakdowns to suicidal thoughts. VDB used a lot of cocaine, he can be described as a cocaine addict. Beside cocaine he used also amphetamines and sleeping pills in large quantities. After a drunk night in Senegal VDB went to his hotel room. The next morning the hotel manager found his lifeless body. Next to his bed lay his bag with personal belongings and a syringe plus a spoon (Mulder, N., 2009). Autopsy revealed that Vandenbroucke died of
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a double lung embolism. Beside he got a heart condition that might have been triggered by alcohol or drugs. -TennisTwo tennis players were tested positive for using cocaine during their career, but both players denied to have used cocaine in their lives. First of all there was Richard Gasquet. After a shoulder injury he went out in Miami. He met there some girls and spend the whole night with kissing one girl. Just before the ‘goodnight kiss’ the girl, Pamela, went longer to the toilet than expected. The next morning a small amount of Benzolecgonine was found in the body of Gasquet. It was a risk of Gasquet to place himself in this kind of situation. The consequence of the story is that Gasquet was suspended for two-and-ahalf month (Sage, A., 2009). Martina Hingis broke through when she was just a teenager. She won several Grand Slams and her highest ranking was number 1. In 2007 she retired her tennis career, because at Wimbledon she was tested positive for cocaine. After the third round she had to give an urine sample for testing on drugs. Hingis is 100% convinced that she never used cocaine in her life. She and the Tribunal have got doubts about the identity of and integrity of the sample, but the International Tennis Federation was clear as crystal. The ITF gave Hingis a ban of two years and she also lost her ranking points plus the prize money from Wimbledon. After she heard about the suspension she retired, because it would take years to prove her innocence and because of her age and health problems (BBC Sport Tennis, 2008). -BasketballOne of the most tragic stories of athletes who used cocaine is the one of Len Bias. In the season of 1985-1986 Bias was a basketball player for the University of Maryland. He had a successful collegiate career and some journalists compared Bias already with Michael Jordan. At that time Jordan was in the beginning of his career too. Bias was an athlete with charisma and he played explosive (Bratcher, D., 2009). On June the 18th Bias signed a contract with the Celtics and at the same day he made a shoe deal of 3 million dollars with Reebok. In the evening the car of Bias was seen in a bad drug neighborhood by some undercover agents. Those agents have never seen who were in the car, but they are almost sure there were two people inside. Still that evening on June the 18th he arrived at the Maryland campus. He visit some friends and teammates and hang around with them. The next morning Bias was unconscious and not breathing. He took a overdoses of cocaine. In the hospital they tried everything what they could, they restarted his heart, and a peacemaker was implanted but all without any result. Len Bias died at the age of 22 years old (Harriston, K., Jenkins, S., 1986). Eight days later after Bias’s death another athlete died because of cocaine. Don Rogers, just 18 years old, died of a heart attack caused by a cocaine overdoses just one day before his wedding. Rogers played American Football for the Cleveland Browns (Open-tennis, 2011).
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Normally in the conclusion you give a summary of the main points. In the introduction there is the following question mentioned: ‘must recreational drugs such as cocaine be legalized in sports?’. In the next paragraphs I will give my point of view. The word ‘recreational’ is an adjective and is obtained from recreation (Blurtit, n.d.). But what is recreation than? Recreation is spending your free time by doing something like sports. So if you translate ‘recreational drugs’ it means something like: spend your free time with some drugs. So it means like athletes can use this kind of drugs. Recreation is used to refresh your brains and the physical condition. After an exertion it is time to relax. Of course athletes are professionals and they have to be aware of their health. But it is their future and it is their choice to use drugs or not. It is the same like if a player choose to change club. The decision is up to the athlete. If a player leaves Ajax for Real Madrid, it is not guaranteed that he will play for Real Madrid. So is it a good choice? Athletes must decide for themselves. If an athlete wants to use drugs, because he cannot handle the pressure or he is adventurous let him use it. Only when the drug enhance the performance it is not fair. In my opinion I think drugs can work relaxing, but on the other hand there will be some consequences visible like an addiction or the performance will be poor. In the world of sport there are so many rules and a lot of things are forbidden for athletes. Sometimes from my perspective it is against the humanity. I heard a story of a friend who always had to train. Six hours in a day and 5 days a week, if it is not more. He was just 15 years old and I think at that age there is so more next to sports. You are young and you make a lot of claims, but if you always have to or must say NO because of the sport, I think that is not healthy. Recreational drugs are just for recreation. But drugs like epo and nandrolon are performance enhancing drugs. These athletes who are using this type of drugs will have an advantage compared to other athletes who just trust their natural talents. The ones who are using drugs like cannabis or cocaine are not punishable in my point of view. There is not enough of prove that these recreational drugs help performances. I think that these kind of drugs make their performances even more weak. In the introduction I told about Dr. Gary Wadler. Cocaine is a stimulant, but if you look at coffee, redbull or cigarettes those include also stimulants. These examples of stimulants are short term. So if you smoked last night cannabis, you would not feel better today if there is a match. In fact, I think if you smoke cannabis the day before, you will feel exhausted. Summarized, my standpoint is that athletes can decide for themselves. They can choose if they eat at the Burger King, smoke cigarettes or use cocaine. But I am against performance enhancing drugs.
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REFERENCES
Yvangelder (n.d.) Yuri van Gelder , [Online], Available: http://www.yvangelder.nl/ Blythe (2009) Yuri van Gelder caught using cocaine!, [Online], Available: http://gymblog.wordpress.com/2009/07/13/yuri-van-gelder-caught-using-cocaine/ Stouwdam, H. (2009) Dutch gymnast Yuri van Gelder tests positive for cocaine, [Online], Available: http://vorige.nrc.nl/international/article2299331.ece/Dutch_gymnast_Yuri_van_Gelder _tests_positive_for_cocaine Alper, J. (2007) Is cocaine a Performance Enhancing drug?, [Online], Available: http://www.aolnews.com/2007/11/02/is-cocaine-a-performance-enhancing-drug/ NU (2009) Van Gelder betrapt op cocaïne, [Online], Available: http://www.nu.nl/algemeen/2041000/van-gelder-betrapt-op-cocaine.html Talktofrank (n.d.) Cocaine, [Online], Available: http://www.talktofrank.com/drugs.aspx?id=106 ESPN (2009) Cocaine, [Online], Available: http://espn.go.com/special/s/drugsandsports/coca.html Keller, D., J., Todd, G., L. (1994) International Journal of Cardiology. Pages 20-28 NIDA (2009) NIDA Infofacts: Cocaine, [Online], Available: http://www.nida.nih.gov/infofacts/cocaine.html Dopingautoriteit (2009) Cocaïne in de sport: terecht verboden?, [Online], Available: http://www.dopingautoriteit.nl/nieuws/algemeen/3681 Schuijers, R. (2009) Waarom nemen sporters drugs?, [Online], Available: http://nos.nl/audio/40585-waarom-nemen-sporters-drugs.html Sportengland (n.d.) UK Anti-doping launches Report Doping in Sport hotline, [Online], Available: http://www.sportengland.org/about_us/our_news/uk_anti_doping.aspx UK Anti-Doping (2011) What we do, [Online], Available: http://www.ukad.org.uk/pages/what_we_do/ Slater, M. (2009) New UK anti-doping body confirmed, [Online], Available: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/front_page/7869567.stm Guardian (2004) How cocaine habit led to Pantani’s downfall, [Online], Available: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2004/feb/22/cycling.theobserver Abt, S. (1999) International Herald Tribune, Cycling’s Poster Boy Is Now a Police Mug
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Goldsmith, P. (2002) Vandenbroucke – where to from here?, [Online], Available: http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/news/2002/mar02/mar02news.php Cyclingnews (2008) Vandenbroucke to be questioned in cocaine case, [Online], Available: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/vandenbroucke-to-be-questioned-in-cocaine-case Mulder, N. (2009) VDB ‘s death: A prostitute’s perspective, [Online], Available: http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/2000/VDBs-death-A-prostitutesperspective.aspx Sage, A. (2009) Richard Gasquet’s cocaine-kiss claims supported by forensic tests, [Online], Available: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/tennis/article6805919.ece BBC Sport Tennis (2008) Hingis handed two-year suspension, [Online], Available: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7077525.stm Bratcher, D. (2009) Death of a Legend, [Online], Available: http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/people/12477.html Harriston, K., Jenkins, S. (1986) Maryland Basketball Star Len Bias is Dead at 22; Traces of Cocaine Found in System, [Online], Available: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpsrv/sports/longterm/memories/bias/launch/bias1.htm Open-tennis (2011) Sport’s Most Infamous Cocaine Scandals, [Online], Available: http://www.open-tennis.com/davis-cup/sports-most-infamous-cocaine-scandals/ Blurit (n.d.) What does Recreational mean?, [Online], Available: http://www.blurtit.com/q881964.html
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