Performance-enhancing drugs (PED) use is one of the utmost concerns in the professional sporting world, as the deterioration of once-revered New York Yankee Alexander Rodriguez’s legacy has proven. With most competent athletes being able to avoid detection for years, some argue that performance enhancers should be allowed in order for them to be administered in a safe manner and to, somehow, ‘level the playing field’ amongst athletes.
I, however, would argue that this completely disregards what it means to be a sportsman and puts the athletes in harm’s way. The only way to truly mitigate the use of PED in sports is to effectively ban those found guilty of using them.
Perhaps the most convincing argument against loosening the restrictions on PED and in favour of stricter legislation comes from the world of contact sports. No careers are shortened by how fast Lance Armstrong can pedal a bike or how fast a sprinter can run; however, serious injuries can occur when an NFL player can deliver harder hits or when a boxer can orchestrate a more concussive attack. Drugs that allow athletes participating in such sports to encourage an above-normal amount of muscle growth only further opens sportsmen to dangerous injuries.
In addition to the danger that stronger and faster athletes present in high-contact sports, PED also devalue what it means to be a professional athlete. Adding an unnatural substance into the training regimen goes against the pursuit of pushing the human body to its natural limits.
While they do not negate the necessity of skill, PED allow the possibility of otherwise unworthy athletes being able to force their way into the professional ranks on the basis of ill-gotten gains rather than pure, unadulterated hard work. Professional sport should be a celebration of the skill of a select few who are able to hone their craft better than anyone else rather than a bizarre science experiment.
It may, at first, seem that the system of temporary suspensions currently being used almost across the board is sufficient to deter users and punish those who have used them in the past. After all, don’t those who have been punished for past use of PED deserve a second chance? Not at all, says a recent study reported on by the BBC.
Research done at the University of Oslo suggests that those who use steroids, even for a short period of time, can reap the physical benefits on a long-term basis, perhaps even a decade after stopping use. If correct, the implication would be that once an athlete has been found to be using PED once, not only would their past achievements be called into question, but all their future outings would also be tainted.
As one of the authors of the study, professor Kristian Gundersen, tells the BBC, “In science if you cheat you are out for life, and my personal view is that it should be similar for athletes . . . it is a harsh treatment but if you really are cheating, I think that’s reasonable.”
For centuries, sports, both professional and amateur, have given us all a reason to come together and cheer. However, with the growing commodification of the industry, it is only natural to assume that there will be those who want to gain an unfair advantage.
Given all we now know about brain injuries in professional athletics, it is nothing short of irresponsible to let anything increase that risk. Furthermore, PED dilute the standard to which professional athletes should be held, by introducing an unnatural variable into the equation. As a result, those who have been found guilty of using such substances should face a permanent ban from their chosen sport, rather than a temporary suspension or other likewise insufficient punishment.
