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| Photo credit lwtclearningcommons |
With three sets left on the leg press, I didn’t really have anywhere to go, so I let him babble. According to this guy, this new ‘supplement’ would melt the fat from my abs and be invisible to drug tests. What I found particularly interesting was the enthusiasm with which he endorsed this wonder drug. He was gesticulating, his eyes were expressive and he spoke with fervour. If I’d closed my eyes it would have sounded like a cheesy American infomercial. But it wasn’t.
When he was done pitching and I’d finished my sets, I realised that after only 5 minutes of the hard sell I felt somewhat browbeaten and I immediately felt sympathy for some of the elite athletes who had fallen into the trap.
To put things into perspective, some athletes are coached for so long that they spend as much time with their coaching staff as they do with their family. Surely the pressure of carrying a nation’s hope for athletic glory combined with advice from trusted coaching staff can leave an athlete in a state of discombobulation.
What is really annoying is that coaches are never fully held to account for abusing the trust of these athletes – there always seems to be a level of plausible deniability. Even more painful is the fact that most of these athletes devote their entire life to their sport, so a fall from grace leaves them with literally nowhere to turn.
I am not trying to condone the use of illegal drugs; I am merely trying to explore how easy it could be for someone to succumb to the temptation.
What are your thoughts?
For me, it's all about asking the question of why performance enhancing drugs are banned. There are too many inconsistencies against many of the reasons why it should be banned. They include:
ReplyDelete1. It's morally wrong or it's cheating:
Change the rules and bingo - it's not cheating
2. It's harmful to health:
Items like caffeine are not harmful but banned and tobacco is harmful to health but legal.
3. It creates a level playing field:
Again, if everybody was allow to use it then that's a level playing field.
4. It's not natural:
It could be from the viewpoint that drugss are not natural for the body so shouldn't be allowed. Blood doping is natural (it's your own blood) but is banned. Painkillers are not natural but are allowed.
Anyway, there needs be a clearer idea of why performance enhancing drugs and doping in general should be banned.
I think you've raised some valid points that I had not even taken into consideration - thank you.
ReplyDeleteI suppose the one thing that makes performance enhancing drugs such a scary consideration for legalisation is the knowledge that there are a lot of athletes who will push everything to the max. If performance enhancing drugs were legal, it would only be a matter of time before someone took it too far and did some sort of unexpected or unanticipated damage to themself.
I do agree that more clarity is needed on this topic. Thanks for your comments!
There'a a hypocrisy when it comes to performance enhancing drugs in the sports culture. On one hand the general public expects bigger, better, faster performances from athletes. We bask in praises for these athletes but crucify them once we find out what really goes on behind the curtain to attain these extraordinary results!
ReplyDelete