Drugs and Sports
One of the most exhilarating and yet shameful moments in modern-day sports occurred during the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, which encapsulates the 'highs and lows' of drug-use in sport. The showpiece event of Olympics' track and field, the 100-meter dash, was most eagerly awaited that year as Ben Johnson; the brash Canadian sprinter was to take on a legendary athlete-Carl Lewis of the US in the race. When the gun sounded for the start of the 100-meters final on September 24, 1988, 'Big' Ben shot out of the blocks like a human canon ball and completed the race in an astonishing world record of 9.79 seconds leaving Lewis almost a meter behind. The whole of Canada erupted in celebration; it was a moment to savor. Within the next 48 hours, however, the euphoria of a remarkable victory had dissolved into the ignominy of shame for Ben Johnson as he was stripped of his gold medal, having tested positive for using Stanozolol-a performance-enhancing steroid. This famous incident was by no means the first (or the last) time a sportsman had taken drugs for improving his performance; athletes have employed such tactics since times immemorial. This paper takes a look at the history of drug use in sports; discusses some of the co
Human Growth Hormone: The Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is a naturally occurring hormone produced by the pituitary gland in the body that influences a variety of metabolic processes. Its major function is the maintenance of linear growth from birth to childhood by stimulating the synthesis of the proteins that form bone and muscle tissue. The history of drug use in sports is probably as old as sport itself. In ancient Greece for example, athletic competitors consumed extracts of mushrooms and plant seeds to enhance their performance and Olympic athletes have been recorded to ingest sheep's testicles as early as 776 BC to boost their Testosterone levels. (Francis) In the Roman period, when chariot races and gladiator fights were major sporting events, horses as well as gladiators were frequently 'doped' to run faster or fight more ferociously. Cases of doping in modern sports have been recorded from the late 19th century onwards when European cyclists started to use a variety of "miracle" products to fight pain and exhaustion. The first recorded death from drug-use in sports occurred in 1886 when a cyclist died from an overdose of trimethyl. In the 1904 Olympics, Thomas Hicks, a marathon runner from the USA collapsed after winning the race as he had used a mixture of brandy and strychnine to enhance "endurance." By the early 1930s athletes had started to experiment with nitroglycerine in an effort to dilate their coronary arteries and stimulants such as amphetamines. (Francis; King) Use of drugs in sports has a long history, as even the ancient Greek sportsmen are known to have used them. The invention of more effective performance enhancing drugs in recent years and a lopsided stress on 'winning at all costs' in the Western culture has prompted the widespread use of drugs among professional as well as amateur athletes. Increased awareness about the serious side effects of drugs such as steroids has also led to stricter check on drug use in sports by the authorities in recent times. However, we still have a long way to go before the scourge of drug use in sports is eliminated. mmonly used performance enhancing drugs as well as their side-effects, and explains the anti-doping measures taken by the sports bodies to control the use of performance enhancing drugs in sports. Stimulants: A wide variety of stimulants are used by sportspersons as performance enhancing drugs. Some of the major prohibited stimulants that are commonly abused are Ephedrine, and amphetamines. Ephedrine causes a dramatic increase in the activity of the central nervous system, stimulates metabolism and improves the force of skeletal muscle contractions. Its side effects include heart problems and blood pressure as well as headache, loss of appetite, nausea or vomiting, trembling, and troubled breathing. The general side effects of amphetamine, a powerful synthetic stimulant of the central nervous system, are well known and include weight loss, kidney damage, and increased risk for seizures, irritability, paranoia, hallucination, and even psychosis. A dangerous side effect of amphetamine (causing blood to flow away from the skin) increases th
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Approximate Word count = 2116
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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