And the winner is – that famous athlete who has been taking doping substances to enhance his sporting performance – didn’t he do well

Authors Avatar
"And the winner is - that famous athlete who has been taking doping substances to enhance his sporting performance - didn't he do well"

The use of drugs in an attempt to improve sporting achievement is often referred to as doping; while the term doping first appeared in an English dictionary in 1879,the use of drugs is evident throughout the history of sport. By 800BC sport was as fundamental a part of Greek life as religious observations of the time. Athletic festivals were common in the Greek calendar, but due to bribing and cheating competitors of this period were reputedly willing to ingest anything, which might improve their performance, including extracts of mushrooms and plant seeds. In addition to political interference, one of the significant reasons for the dissolution of the ancient Olympic games was the use of drugs. The use of drugs during the Roman period has also been recorded. Chariot racers fed their horses a potent mixture to make them run faster, while many gladiators were 'doped-up' to make their fights sufficiently vigorous and bloody for the paying public. This distortion of the aims of sport began in pre-Christian times and has continued to develop in sophistication right through to the twenty first century.

During the twentieth century, sporting activity gradually evolved into a 'big business' providing a significant, worldwide source of entertainment, revenue and employment. Sport has also developed into a significant social institution and success in sport has become highly valued. This has placed pressure on sports people to become not only successful, but the best. This pressure has contributed to the escalation in the incidence of drug taking and the number of drug related deaths within the sporting community. The drug-takers cynical behaviour has corroded sport's essential purity. The improper or illegal use of drugs and substances such as steroids for the temporary enhancement of athletic performance in competitions has been a frequent subject of inquiry since the 1960s, when drug misuse by athletes to gain an unfair advantage began to rise dramatically.

One of the stated values of sport is that it improves one's health. Pursued in moderation, it certainly does develop muscle tone, increases cardiovascular efficiency, and helps to strengthen bones. When sport becomes an obsession, however, it tends ironically to have the opposite effect. The human body is thought of as an instrument, something to be used and abused. The misuse of amphetamines, anabolic steroids, and other drugs has become a central problem in sports. The former allow athletes to draw upon their physical reserves and continue despite the extremes of exhaustion until they collapse and, occasionally, die. In pursuit of the absolute maximum achievement, 19th-century cyclists began to drug themselves with caffeine and strychnine; some died from the effects of the drugs.
Join now!


While drug use was reportedly rife at the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games, and to a lesser extent at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, countries eventually began to speak out against the harm that drugs were causing to the individual and sport. It wasn't until the televised death of cyclist Tommy Simpson in the Tour de France in 1967 that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) became actively involved in international anti- initiatives. The Medical Commission of the IOC was established in 1967 and the first drug tests were conducted at the Mexico Olympic Games in 1968. A schedule of banned ...

This is a preview of the whole essay