Steroids and sport

Lawrence W.

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Steroids and sport

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Abstract

The idea of doping in sport is not a new one, in fact it is said to have roots as far back as 1876 when a highly regarded Professor of medicine in Edinburgh, Scotland took some athletes from his university into the mountains to introduce them to the South American coca leaves (the root source of cocaine) and explained to them the how this plant had properties that could enhance their athletic performance. These results were then published in an esteemed medical journal, and people began looking for other drugs that could be used as performance-enhancers. One hundred years later, the issue of doping in sport had grown to a level where cheating in sport was becoming rampant, and this led to the introduction of a highly scientific set of tests that was designed to identify those athletes that were using performance enhancing drugs, particularly steroids. It is an interesting course of study to look into how the idea of doping in sport and the response to it has changed over the past century and beyond.

Introduction.
Understanding why an athlete would risk their health and reputation by taking performance enhancing drugs.
1. The motivation to be number one.
2. The case of Ben Johnson.
Advertising and the face of sport.
1. If a group of athletes were given a pill that guaranteed them an Olympic gold medal, would they take it?
2. Television and the globalization of sports: Turning athletes into a marketing phenomenon.
3. Major live sporting events.
4. The big contracts and the best player.
5. Idealizing those athletes that are commonly thought of as being steroid users.
6. Other negative effects on how widely performing enhancement drugs are used in sport.
Conclusion.
Bibliography.

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[...] an era where sport became global and dominated by money, the temptation by athletes to use performance enhancing drugs became too great to resist. To begin to understand why an athlete would take a risk to their health and reputation by taking performance enhancing drugs one must immerse themselves in the culture of sport, and the power that is yields. When a track race is about to begin, the sprinters now that the sounding of the pistol means that there is less than ten seconds separating them from potential glory, glory that could translate into fame and fortune, but more importantly, recognition for being the best there is. [...]

[...] Ibid Robert Voy. Drugs, Sport, ad Politics. (Rawdon: Human Kinetics Publishers, 1991) Ibid. Garry Whannel. Media Sport Stars Masculinities and Mortalities. (New York: Routledge, 2002) Mary G. McDonald and David L. Andrews. Michael Jordan: Corporate Sport and Postmodern Celebrityhood. In David L. Andrews and Steven J. Jackson. Sport Stars The Cultural Politics of Sporting Celebrities. (London: Routledge, 2001) Whannel. Media Sport Stars Masculinities and Mortalities, 37-38. Garry Whannel. The Five Rings and the Small Screen: Television, Sponsorship and the New Media in [...]

[...] They need to understand that winning a gold medal, especially in those sports like swimming and track where it all comes down to short-term factors like who gets the better start (as opposed to a sport like baseball whose outcome rests on many more factors and variables). They need to decentralize the Olympic training process and create clubs all across the country. The main regulating bodies within countries should be charged with effectively doling out funds, but they should have a smaller role in who gets to train and how the training takes place. [...]

[...] It has also provided the incentive needed for athletes to use performance enhancing drugs, often without consideration of the fall that will likely take place (on the screens of televisions across the world) if they were to get caught.[13] The globalization of television has, according to Garry Whannel, “prompted the professionalization, commercialization, and spectacularization of sport.”[14] Television and advertising have created a framework for sport where there is a lot of money to be made. As young children grow up, they associate athletes with being the richest people on earth. [...]

[...] Michael Jordan: Corporate Sport and Postmodern Celebrityhood. In David L. Andrews and Steven J. Jackson. Sport Stars The Cultural Politics of Sporting Celebrities. London: Routledge Meenaghan, Tony. Evaluating Sponsorship Effects. In John Amis and T. Bettina Cornwell. Global Sport Sponsorship. New York: Berg Voy, Robert. Drugs, Sport, and Politics. Rawdon: Human Kinetics Publishers Whannel, Garry. Media Sport Stars Masculinities and Mortalities. New York: Routledge Whannel, Garry. The Five Rings and the Small Screen: Television, Sponsorship and the New Media in the Olympic Movement. [...]

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