to also have or use this advantage is significant, for example, a better designed golf
club, a lighter running shoe or the use of steroids. Similar peer group pressure may
come from teammates.
A successful athlete is often associated with a successful coach. As a result, the
coach may place direct pressure on an athlete to perform and may be the source of
further internal pressure.
Financial and material rewards are major influences on athletes and sporting
performance. Sport, which was once an activity to fill in leisure time, has now
become a way to earn a living for some of our elite athletes. In recent times people
have commented that moneymaking principles have begun to replace athletes'
moral principles.
Enormous salaries, product endorsements and potential careers outside of the
sporting field are some of the rewards available to the successful athlete.
Rewards are also available to athletes at lower levels of competition and to those in
amateur sport. Even at junior levels, inducements such as scholarships are a
significant incentive, and can increase the pressure to achieve.
The banning of the use of drugs in sport is generally justified by the dual and
interrelated arguments that it is medically unacceptable because of the potential
side effects and it is ethically unacceptable because it contravenes the spirit of
sport and the concept of fair play.
Specifically, it is not fair for one individual to gain an advantage over another by
means, which are secretive and dangerous and give advantage to the extent that
other competitors would have to accept the same unreasonable risk in order to be
competitive.
There would be two possible solutions for this problem. These two are exactly the
opposite of each other. The first solution would be to fight for the “drug free sport”.
The other option is to allow drugs into sport.
There are a lot of pros and cons for each solution, and it is really hard to
decide which one would be the best for everybody, not just for the athletes but the
audience and everybody who is related somehow to the sporting community.
I will show the consequences that would happen if we could achieve the drug
free sport. If we could achieve these goals, athletes from all around the world would
compete with equal chance to win. But the results in all sports would decrease
immediately, for example the world champion in the 100 m dash would run 10,0-
10,2. Nobody would invest money in sport anymore. It would be a purely money free
sport, with no manufacturer endorsements, no TV commentary jobs and no prize
money. The professional sport would die. This is not going to happen.
We could reach this by increasing the number of testing. Testing should become
more rigorous, and it is becoming obvious that the tightening of doping policies to
prevent legal challenges is just as important as the development of new testing and
analytical procedures.
Drug use in sports continues to change. New forms of undetectable doping have
appeared. The testing should be adjustable and updated to the new forms of
doping.
The other solution would be to let athletes use drugs. This would be equal for all
athletes too, but drug using is unacceptable for many athletes in the world. There are
a lot of arguments though, that support this idea.
The very nature of sport is about striving to gain the edge over the opponent, using
drugs is no different from having a better bike, a better shoe, or a better training
regime.
There is never a level playing field anyway, some will always have advantages over
others whether it be through; genetics, money, training environment, sports science
back up etc. drugs are just another variable.
Sport is by nature dangerous, in the bid to be; swifter, higher, stronger athletes are
having to take more and more risks, some potentially more dangerous than drugs.
Many athletes use drugs but are ignorant of safety issues and it would be better to
accept that athletes will always use them, allow them to be monitored by doctors
and so limit the side effects.
