Steroid Use in Sports

Drug use and sports have had a long, sordid history. Athletes make their living off of race or game results, leading them to look for any advantage they can get over their opponents. This has led so many drug scandals over the last few years that people are almost becoming desensitized to it.

First of all, science has come so far along that we aren’t even sure what constitutes an unfair advantage anymore. Athletes can have eye surgery to give themselves perfect vision, i.e. Tiger Woods. Swimmers can use wetsuits produced by Speedo that allow them to break numerous world records in a single day. Time Trial bikes keep becoming more aerodynamic, making these types of races more about what the cyclist can afford and less about the hours and hours of training. While all these examples blur the line between what and what isn’t acceptable, pretty much everyone agrees that taking illegal drugs to gain an advantage over others clearly gives an athlete a clear advantage.

There also seems to be some unfair sentencing in the punishments handed down for drug use. Recently, Kansas City Chief’s wide receiver Dwayne Bowe was suspended for just four games after testing positive. Rashid Ramzi, winner of the gold medal in the 1,500 meter run at the Beijing Olympics, had his gold medal taken away and will be given a ban that will last up to two years. While I understand that the punishments were given out by two different commissions, these differences sound absurd to me. To me this shows that the public almost expects these kinds of things to happen to their athletes and is willing to allow for some bias in the punishments.

As to what should happen to people caught using performance enhancers, I can’t really say. Austria recently created an amendment that would send athletes to jail for up to ten years after testing positive for drugs. This issue was brought up after Austrian cyclist Bernhard Kohl tested positive for EPO after last year’s Tour de France. Since he was caught before the law is in place, he won’t have to worry about jail time. He did however quite cycling altogether after getting a two year ban from racing.

Speaking of the Tour, it doesn’t seem like a year can go by without a few racers testing positive for EPO. While yes, there was a period of time where it wasn’t banned and everyone was using it. But it has been banned for years now, yet people continue to risk their entire careers to use it. Many fans believe that this kills the integrity of the sport altogether, refusing to even pay attention to pro cycling. But this doesn’t just apply to the elite racers. This doesn’t just apply to cycling either. Elite level triathletes have also been caught using blood boosters. The problem with this is that drug testing in triathlon isn’t as stringent as cycling, mainly because it hasn’t been a huge problem until lately. While pro racers and elite triathletes may get most of the blame, some Cat I racers and age group triathletes have also been caught with these drugs. This shows that the problem may only get worse before it gets be

While 10 years may be a bit drastic, punishments do need to be harsher. Fines against professional athletes more often than not are just a joke. With the ridiculous amounts some make, essentially no amount of money can really hurt them. Instead, the bans placed on them need to be longer, as in maybe an entire season or two. While this may seem excessive to some, I believe the thought of not getting payed for a year or two may be enough motivation to stop drug use.

To me, this is a personal issue. As a cyclist, the idea that someone next to me at the start line may win simply because they have money and a lack of morals bothers me to no end. While I agree that people tend to do whatever is necessary to get a paycheck, the line has to be drawn somewhere. An elite athlete should be willing to put in the hours necessary instead of just opening their wallet.

Cody Dey