Many athletes choose to use performance enhancing drugs to help them win regardless of the numerous risks involved. Using performance enhancing drugs comes with dramatic health risks and with technology constantly advancing,it has become increasingly difficult to get away with it. In sport, drug users are looked down upon as their reputation is ruined. Are these risks to health and reputation worth suffereing through in order to gain that extra inch?
Athletes at training |
Sally Pearson in tears as she crosses the finish line to win the Women's 100m Hurdles at the World Athletics Championships |
Most athletes that have been caught using drugs have been completely stripped of all medals and are almost always banned from their sport for life, even though half the feild might be doing the same. There is no question that drugs are making sport unfair, removing the "level playing field" and ruining the fun for everybody. Some people may argue that if drugs are making sport unfair, why don't we make them legal? But, if we did that, sport would be fair because almost everybody would be taking drugs, but there are too many problems if that were to happen in the future. One of the major issues (regarding health) is that the athletes taking the drugs would be burnt out with fatal health problems within the first year or two. Sport shouldn't have a time limit or make somebody's life miserable because of poor health, it should be enjoyed. Another problem is the message that would be sent to children and teenagers. Children and teenagers are inspired by athletes because they chase after their dreams and work hard to get there. Would you want your grandchildren to grow up thinking that they don't have to work hard because they can take drugs to get them there?
Children having fun at Auskick |
Michael Phelps at the Beijing Olympics 2008 |