PTC NEWSLETTER
# 172
HAS DRUG TESTING RUINED SPORT?
Before you start reading this, please understand these are my own personal views. I understand this is a touchy subject, and this will be the most controversial newsletter ever. I’ve never shied away from controversy and speaking my mind, so I’m not about to now. You’ve been warned.
Lance Armstrong cheated. It’s all over the news, everyone has an opinion on the subject. Here is mine. Yes, on the evidence put forward by USADA officials and team mates, Lance probably used performance enhancing drugs (PED). His sport classifies them as illegal and anyone that uses PED is a cheat. Would Lance have won without them? Possibly not. Would Lance have won if everyone was clean? I believe he would. Is everyone clean on the Tour, absolutely not.
Here is a little history on PED in sport, let’s start with the 1800’s
"The modern applications [of drug use in sports] began in the late nineteenth century, with preparations made from the coca leaf -- the source of cocaine and related alkaloids. Vin Mariani, a widely used mixture of coca leaf extract and wine, was even called 'the wine for athletes.' It was used by French cyclists and... by a champion lacrosse team. Coca and cocaine were popular because they staved off the sense of fatigue and hunger brought on by prolonged exertion."
Thomas H. Murray, PhD "The Coercive Power of Drugs in Sports," The Hastings Center Report, Aug. 1983
"In 1904 Olympics marathon runner, Thomas Hicks, was using a mixture of brandy and strychnine [a stimulant that is fatal in high doses] and nearly died. Mixtures of strychnine, heroin, cocaine, and caffeine were used widely by athletes and each coach or team developed its own unique secret formulae. This was common practice until heroin and cocaine became available only by prescription in the 1920s."
Mark S. Gold, MD Performance-Enhancing Medications and Drugs of Abuse, 1992
"The first 'effective' performance enhancing drugs, the amphetamines, which were used widely by soldiers in the Second World War, crossed over into sports in the early 1950s. These drugs -- nicknamed la bomba by Italian cyclists and atoom by Dutch cyclists -- minimize the uncomfortable sensations of fatigue during exercise."
Timothy Noakes, MD, DSc "Tainted Glory - Doping and Athletic Performance," New England Journal of Medicine, Aug. 26, 2004
1958 - The "Godfather of Steroids," Dr. John Bosley Zieglar, creates an anabolic steroid called Dianabol that is released by Ciba Pharmaceuticals with FDA approval. Dr. Zieglar noted the success of the Russian weightlifting team due to the use of testosterone in 1954 and began experimenting on US weightlifters. His creation synthesizes the strength-building properties of testosterone while minimizing the negative health effects.
Close to his death in 1983, Dr. Zieglar speaks out against his invention and says he wishes he had never created the anabolic steroid after seeing athletes abuse the drug.
Justin Peters "The Man Behind the Juice," Slate.com, Feb. 18, 2005
1960 - Danish cyclist, Knut Jensen, dies on Aug. 26, 1960 at the Summer Olympics in Rome during the 100km team time trial race. His collapse, which fractured his skull, is initially thought to be caused by the high temperatures that day. His autopsy, however, reveals traces of an amphetamine called Ronicol. Jensen is the second athlete ever to die during Olympic competition (the first was a marathon runner in 1912 who died from heat exhaustion).
NBC (National Broadcasting Corporation) "Cycling: Inside This Sport: History," www.nbcolympics.com (accessed May 13, 2009)
1967 - British cyclist Tommy Simpson, named Sports Personality of the Year by the BBC in 1965, dies during the 13th stage of the Tour de France on July 13, 1967. The cyclist, whose motto was allegedly "if it takes ten to kill you, take nine and win," consumes excess amounts of amphetamines and brandy to combat the effects of an illness and he continues to ride until his body shuts down.
Simpson's death creates pressure for sporting agencies to take action against doping.
Matt Slater "Gene Doping - Sport's Next Big Challenge," bbc.co.uk, June 12, 2008
1967 - Partly in reaction to Tommy Simpson's death, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) establishes the Medical Commission to fight against doping in sports. The Commission is given three guiding principles: protection of the health of athletes, respect for medical and sport ethics, and equality for all competing athletes.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) "The Medical Commission," www.olympic.org (accessed June 3, 2009)
1968 - "The IOC instituted its first compulsory doping controls at the Winter Olympic Games in Grenoble, France in 1968 and again at the Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City in the same year. At that time the list of banned substances issued in 1967 included narcotic analgesics and stimulants, which comprised sympathomimetic amines, psychomotor stimulants and miscellaneous central nervous system stimulants [including alcohol]. Although it was suspected that androgenic anabolic steroids were being used at this time, testing methods were insufficiently developed to warrant the inclusion of anabolic steroids in the list of banned substances."
David R. Mottram, PhD Michele Verroken, MA "Doping Control in Sport," Doping in Sports, 2005
I hope you bothered to read all that. Athletes have been trying to get an edge from Day One. That’s the nature of the athlete. I know some will say it’s cheating, that using PED in drug tested sports to win is not in the spirit of sport. I agree 100%. So let’s not test. Clearly it does not stop an athlete from trying to find the substance that gives him the edge. Nothing scares them, not death, not jail, not humiliation. Nothing scares them, not death, not jail, not humiliation. Nothing scares them, not death, not jail, not humiliation. History tells us that, but we don’t learn from history so were doomed to repeat it, that’s why I kept repeating myself.
So if we test, hoping to stop athletes from using PED’s, and they’re still using, what have we accomplished with the billions of dollars used by drug testing agencies around the world? Not much. I say let’s put those dollars into education about drugs, not PED, recreational drugs, the ones that actually harm society. Lance has harmed no one, but everyone knows his name and what he’s done, he took PED in a sport they’re not allowed, and won by beating others who also used and tested positive to the same PED. Let’s string him up.
I pay money to watch sport. An athlete that takes PED to give me a better show, if caught, will be banned and humiliated. An athlete that takes performance reducing drugs (PRD), like tobacco and alcohol, is free to do as he likes, robbing me of watching the best a human can achieve, and he is not reprimanded in any way, in some cases he is lauded as one of the boys. Think of Carlton 1979 – 1982 AFL teams.
Does this not seem wrong? I know it’s because governments make billions of dollars from taxes on the these PRD, then gives the dollars to agencies to try and catch those using PED, strange. So effectively, the local footballer at the pub getting smashed is funding ASADA to catch the AFL star that uses PED. I know who I’d rather pay to go and watch.
I’m of the opinion, if we can’t catch everyone, let’s not catch anyone. If we can’t create a level playing field, let’s not tamper at all. AFL boss Ange Demetriou summed it up perfectly this week in regards to the AFL draw. Those outside the sport may not know, but we have 18 teams and 22 games, so some teams meet twice during the year. Not perfect or level, by a long way. But the best 4 teams seem to play in the Preliminary final every year, the best 2 teams always seem to meet in the Grand Final. It’s very odd, but you know what, the best will always be the best, no matter what.
Lance is the best. Ben Johnson was the best. Ben Johnson won the “dirtiest” race in Olympic History, where 7 of the 8 athletes later tested positive to PED, including the podium, Linford Christie and Carl Lewis, yet he is the best known “cheat”. I don’t like that word at all.
So we are under no illusion that the best athletes in the sport would still be the best, regardless of testing. So why test?
I know some say it’s for the athlete’s heath. Really? Lets jab a player with pain killing injections at every break, just so he can win the game for us, his health is of little concern as he continues to damage that knee as he can’t feel any pain. Athlete’s health, what a joke. I listened to an interview with a Tour rider who confessed to using PED. He was asked if he thinks they’ve caused damage to his health, he said not as much as crashing his bike has. Sport is dangerous, it’s why we enjoy playing and watching. I watched a video recently where a powerlifter bench pressing dropped a bar on his chest, and he died. I watched a documentary on a college kid playing gridiron, an innocuous tackle has left him a quadriplegic. Everyone knows sport is dangerous.
If PED were legal, athletes could take them under the supervision of medical experts. If we allow 18 year old kids to drink and smoke, using the two biggest killers (drugs) in society without medical supervision, surely our athletes can use PED under supervision with minimal risks.
So why don’t we? If an athlete wrecks his ACL, he is out of the game for a year. He suffers, his team suffers, the game suffers, the fan suffers. Why not allow him to take PED under medical supervision to speed recovery, even making sure he can’t play again till the drugs are out of his system. Is that cheating, is it really enhancing his performance?
Recently a young local footballer purchased a pre game stimulant over the counter from a health food shop, legally. Not knowing it contained a substance banned by ASADA, he tested positive and was kicked out of the game for 12 months. “Spud” was devastated, he has put on weight, got depressed and may not play again. For what? For using a stimulant that had the effect of a couple of cups of double strength coffee. Doesn’t seem fair, does it? My lifters were using the exact same compound at the time, but they don’t lift in a drug tested sport.
Earlier this year a neighbour ruptured his Achilles heel. He was booked to go on a holiday, but his leg was in plaster and he was on crutches. He came over and he asked if I knew any exercises that could speed his recovery. I told him he should consider using anabolic steroids for their intended use, therapy. I gave him some information, he did his research, and began steroid therapy, a tiny dose.
Three weeks later the plaster and crutches are gone, he’s off to Bali, his doctor reckons it’s a miracle. He never told his doctor the miracle is called Testosterone and Deca. The neighbour is so happy. He is actually a local sportsman, and he asks me why footballers don’t use them when they get injured. Stupid isn’t it?
Now closer to home, my sport, powerlifting, has been torn apart because of drug testing. Once upon a time there was one Fed, all over the World, in the mid 80’s that Fed introduced drug testing. There were lifters who weren’t happy, so they started another Fed, and another, and another. There are over 50 Feds worldwide, we can no longer have a World Champion, but at least we have, well, at our recent Worlds, 250 lifters got Gold Medals. Not too bad, thats just one Fed, in November another 4-5 Feds are holding their Worlds in Las Vegas, should be a couple of thousand lifters with Gold Medals this year in powerlifting. Awesome.
Drug testing has absolutely destroyed my sport, in Australia, right up to 1990, we had one Fed. I watched as our Nationals in 1990 were covered on the news with a story of a Tasmanian lifter who was coming to the South Side Six in Moorabbin to beat Adam Coe at the 1990 Nationals. Never happened, but drug testers burst into the venue and our sport has never been the same again in Australia.
Solution? I believe every sport should have a tested Fed and a non tested Fed, give athletes and fans a choice. Make tested amateur and non tested pro, no incentive to cheat now.
If Lance had the same choice, the media would have nothing to talk about.
Sadly, this will never happen, no money in it, and that drives everything.
Markos Markopoulos
