Taking 'doping' out of the Olympics

Barely a decade ago, allegations that China juiced its top athletes flourished. After all, dozens tested positive in the 1990s, and when new anti-doping procedures arrived before the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, China suddenly decided to leave 40 athletes at home. The mood is different now. China pledges to host the cleanest Olympic Games ever this summer, and a state-of-the-art anti-doping lab is set up to enforce the pledge.

To read more, click here for a story I did earlier in the week.

Catching the dopers among Olympic athletes is not an easy feat. The cheaters always seem to be one step ahead of the doping testers. Click here for a sidebar to the story mentioned above on the battle between the anti-doping officials and the athletes.

My bet is if the anti-doping effort really gets some traction, we’ll see some events at the Summer Games where the results are far below the world record. That could actually be interpreted as good news, in my book. It would mean the athletes are not juiced up.

One of the most interesting perspectives I heard on the doping front was from Dr. Julian Chang, the chief medical officer for the Hong Kong Olympic team. Dr. Chang believes that doping is so widespread in sports that the use of performance-enhancing substances should either be fully legalized or criminalized.

Without taking either of those two actions, he argues, the better developed countries with access to pharmaceutical research and laboratories may always maintain the doping edge over poorer ones. He also notes that anti-doping campaigns are increasingly expensive, taking money away from some poor sporting federations that should be spent on training and other activities.

Other experts also suggested that not everyone is singing from the same song sheet on the use of performance-enhancing substances. Many fans really would like sports stars and teams to clean up. But sports are a big business, and leagues and sponsors thrive when stars keep breaking records. So some powerful forces may not want a harsh _ and embarrassing _ crackdown on dopers that might sour the fans.

Comments

[A B]

Why not set up two tracks:

A "anything goes" track where any performance enhancing trick that does not result in the competitor dropping dead before the finish is allowed.

Another track where nothing is permitted - not even such difficult to detect tricks like training in thin air or increasing your hemoglobin count to just below the allowed limit.

The World Records will then diverge as "Superman" gradually exceed the "stock" competitors.

At least, everyone will recognize this approach as fundamentally honest.

[Eve]

I think its a never ending saga unfortunately. When we see a great race we now think, was that real? I'd actually side on letting them use the stuff, except I think most of it is detrimental to their long term health. But as you said, the dopers seem to be one step ahead. And then sometimes medals are taken away years afterwards, like Marion Jones. Someone else will get the medal, but will any of us know her name? And did she cheat or not?