Sports and Enhancement Drugs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Sports and Enhancement Drugs - Essay Example The use of stimulants and performance enhancing drugs in sports gained momentum in the 1950s-60s. The full fledge use of performance-enhancing drugs was initiated by the Russian athletes who during the 1954 Olympics held in Australia gave a power packed performance outshining their competitors especially the Americans. This started a war of steroids as the Americans came up with their own steroid. Since then performance enhancing drugs especially steroids have become a regular feature in the world of sports. Stories about athletes and sportsperson using performance enhancing drugs often make headlines. For days print and TV media disclose events and incidents and finally confessions from sports person who failed the dope test. These prodigal sons and daughters of the soil are then labeled as â€Å"cheap cheats† and stripped of all the honors and medals they had earned for their country. People criticize the fallen idol for sometime and the sports world calls for stricter measu res to discourage the use of performance enhancing drugs but then everything hushes up until a new member is inducted in the Hall of Shame. Even though they bring so much disgrace, the use of performance enhancement drugs is on the rise among sports person. What are performance enhancing drugs? Do they really affect an athlete’s performance and why do athletes take the risk of using them when they bring nothing but pain in the end are some questions which will be answered in this thesis. Also should the use of performance enhancing drugs be legalized will be discussed here.The new century has given a new meaning to â€Å"sports†; earlier international sports were events where athletes from all over the world met and competed. There were humble winners and graceful losers and the ambience was friendly. The purpose of sports was to cultivate peace and understanding and acceptance of other cultures and values. An athlete was valued more for his sportsman spirit than recor ds he set. Today sports mean do or die. The advent of technology has helped the athletes improve their skills and techniques but has also killed the sportsman spirit. The attitude of the spectators has changed too; the winners are showered with praises and prizes while the losers are blamed and blasted both by the media and the public. After a defeat many heads including those of coaches roll; this extremity has made the coaches and athletes turn to desperate measures such as the use of performance enhancing drugs. Gone are the days when sports were all about sportsmanship and fair play when the team which performed well won the competition. Today every aspect of sports is measured in superlative and only the strongest, fastest and quickest players are the winners. To gain these qualities, the athletes turn to other means besides training and practice. One of the most common methods is the use of performance enhancing drugs. Generally performance enhancing drugs are defined as any s ubstance which when taken orally, injected or applied as cream boosts the endurance level, strength, power and speed in a body for the purpose of enhancing athletic performance (Hales 126). The use of these drugs is common all over the world and in the United States alone nearly one to three million people including twelve percent of young men and two percent of young women take performance enhancement drugs for various purposes