Why has the use of banned substances by sport figures been in the news so much lately!

The news of what being used and by whom, varies between the bad and the very bad.

To understand why these substances ban and why do some many sport figures continue to use them, We need to have a little back ground information on the issue of banned substances and sports;

Back as early as 1904 a marathon runner nearly died from a mixture of brandy and strychnine, a poisonous substance that in small quantities acts as a stimulant. That’s over a hundred years ago and our athletes are still trying to find an edge. Then is the 1930s Amphetamines replaced strychnine as the stimulant of choice among athletes.

It a known fact that the Soviet Union were giving hormones to their athletes as far back as the 1950s

A US physician by the name of John Ziegler invented a synthetic substitute anabolic steroids which came on the market in 1958.

By the early 1960 Anabolic steroids had became quite popular among athletes, including NFL players, seeking greater muscle growth and strength, always trying to get the edge on their competition

The Dangers of these substances came to light when a cyclist believed to be taking amphetamines collapsed and died at the 1960 Olympics and another cyclist died 1967 in the Tour de France event.

Intenation Olympic Committee (IOC) established a medical commission and developed a list of banned substances. It began drug testing of contestants at the 1968 Olympic Games.

Since then the IOC has continually expanded the list of forbidden substances, which include stimulants, narcotics, steroids, and masking agents.

Some sports events and organizations have banned the use of certain drugs and have set up programs to test for banned substances. The IOC was one of the first organizations to do so.

This did not seem to matter to the athletes, who looking to get the edge on their competition.

By the 1980s these banned substances were still a part of almost every sport and athletic programs of the Soviet Union and East Germany. These country wanted to win and their athletes were push to win at any cost.

Today’s athletes are not just winning for their countries anymore, but for the millions in endorsements dollars that can follow a win. It has been estimated that over 30% of Olympic athletes are using performance drugs.

At the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul, the sprinter Ben Johnson had his gold medal stripped from him after testing positive for steroids.

Many believed that the only difference between Johnson and a lot of the other athletes was that he was caught.

The 1990s were no better than previous years; the headlines were filled with many of our sport heroes being accused of taking banned substances, better known as performance enhancing drugs.

There were also several Olympic athletes from various countries that were stripped of their metals during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

You have Mark McGwire who used a compound that at that time was legally sold but temporarily boosts the hormone testosterone. In 1999, McGwire announced he had stopped using the substances. That compound has since been banned by the NFL.

The 1998 Tour de France bicycle race almost had to be canceled when numerous competitors, including many top teams, were disqualified due to allegations that cyclists were systematically using drugs as part of their training regimens.

In 2000 the IOC helped establish a new World Anti-Doping Agency to coordinate international drug testing efforts in preparation for the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Australia.

Did it work? You want to say yes, but there is too much money in it for the athletes to win.

Here we are in 2013, and again the headlines are full of our heroes being accused of taking performance enhancing drugs ‘doping’.
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In April 2012, a news article suggested that a marathon runner died after collapsing in London has used an illegal performance enhancing drug, which can be purchased over the internet legally.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/22/london-marathon-2012-woman-dies-collapsing_n_1444360.html

Then there’s Lance Armstrong, who after years and years of denial, finally comes clean, sort of and uses ‘Oprah’ for his coming clean speech just last month. And who now says he will continue his efforts to get equal punishment for everyone who cheated while competing

http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-lance-armstrong-20130130,0,4197896.story?track=rss

Now how about the story of A-Rod and a bunch of other athletes turning up in an alleged PED dealer’s records which was also hit the news last month.

The Yankees third baseman’s name turned up along with a slew of his constituents in the records of an alleged Miami-based PED dealer.

Alex Rodriguez, Gio Gonzalez, Melky Cabrera, Wayne Odesnik and others have reportedly been linked to the anti-aging clinic.
http://itsaboutthemoney.net/archives/2013/01/29/a-rod-others-accused-of-illegal-doping/

Lastly, we have the story of Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens, who by the way just won a ‘super bowl’ ring. Ray Lewis, was possibility of taking a banned substance. Ray knew that there would be no percussion from the NFL?, because this was going to be his last game.

Mike Florio says Ray Lewis may have found this loophole with his impending retirement and recent PED allegation.

If a player has thoughts of retirement, what’s stopping him from taking a banned substance and retiring at the end of the year before the NFL can hand down a suspension? Realizing it’s the last ride of their career, there could be nothing stopping these guys from doing whatever it takes to go out with a Super Bowl victory.

But Ray Lewis has denied the use of – deer antler-extract, and only time will tell if he did or didn’t.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2013/01/29/ray-lewis-denies-report-he-used-deer-antler-extract-to-recover-from-injury/

The use of drugs in sports affects more than just athletes and their fans. Kids just getting started in sports see that the repercussion of using drugs is totally out weighted by the money that is paid to winning athletes.

They don’t want to hear about all the dangers to a person’s health, and why should they, professional athletes don’t. For all the attempts by the various ruling sport organization, for even new drug test, there is even a newer drug invented to try to get around the test.

Athletes are always going to look for the edge over their competition and with the amount of money they can make having that edge, they are going to be looking for a loophole or a way to break the rules and try to get away with it.

The message were giving our young athlete, seeming to be that if they can take a substance, banned or not, that will give them the edge over their competition, take it, because if get that edge, you will be the one that get paid millions of dollars.

Here a Youtube video that will give you a good idea of what I saying:

We had not proven to our young athlete, the heath risk, they take when using substances.

The stories they hear, are of great athletes with great careers making millions of dollars getting cought, having their hand slapped and continue to make big money.

How big a risk is that?

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