In August 2012, the Olympic flame will glow the hearts of each and every sport enthusiast in London. Many spectators and viewers will be in awe of the unimaginable potential of both the human body and will. But, really, does the modern sports realm adhere to the principles of Olympism?
Answering positively to the aforementioned question constitutes a rather naïve approach. The world of sports has consistently proved the opposite. In reality, the phenomenon of doping in sports dates back to the emergence of sports themselves: from the Ancient Olympics in Greece to the Arthurian knights, there have been recorded numerous reports of "doping" (which then took the more "innocuous" form of consuming herbal infusions or strengthening potions).
In more recent times, the doping cases have been more than many. In the 1970s and '80s, the East German athletes conquered the global world of sports, devastating “monster countries” like the United States or the former Soviet Union. Not only were thousands of East German athletes given performance-enhancing steroids but it was later proven that most of them were under the impression that all they took was vitamins.
In 1988, Ben Johnson thrilled the Canadian track and field fans when he won the 100-metre sprint title setting a new world-record of 9.79 seconds at the Seoul Olympics, managing to leave Carl Lewis in second place. Unfortunately, Johnson later tested positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol. Fifteen years later, it was brought to surface that many American track athletes tested positive for drugs before those same Seoul Games. Most dramatically, Lewis, the recipient of the gold medal after Johnson’s disqualification, was believed to be one of them.
In 2004, Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou, two Greek super athletes, got engaged in a motorcycle accident which — according to their testimonies in court — prevented them from testing for an unexpected doping control. Both athletes were disqualified from the Athens Olympics by the International Olympic Committee on the grounds that the accident was a pretext for avoiding doping control. Both athletes’ career ended ingloriously after that despite their recent acquittal by the Greek apellate court.
And the list goes on. But what lies behind the need to jeopardize one’s health and life by using chemical substances that may bring about a sudden death due to a heart attack before you reach 40 or an altered state of consciousness, even a psychotic delirium? Fierce competition comes to mind first.
Indeed, athletes who compete at the highest level are forced to use highly dangerous drugs in order to level the field for fear that if they don’t, someone else might and they will be beaten. For everyone that has had some experience in professional sports, the “compulsive” need to win is familiar: the quotation “First is first. Second is nothing” reigns in the sports realm. Moreover, the idolization and economic benefits that are generously granted to Olympic medalists or world champions seem to be much more alluring than an olive tree branch or the moral satisfaction that stems from playing honest.
The doping phenomenon is an inexhaustible and always updating issue. Until the world of sports disconnects from advertisements and vast sums of money, doping will not cease to exist.
Stavroula Dimitropoulos - MSc, BSc
