By definition, Doping is the practice of adding
impurities to something. In our case, that "something" is our body; the
weapon that we use to win races, to challenge the greatest, to measure
our limits and to reach the top performances. Doping in sports is a term
for the use of performance-enhancing drugs or blood doping and other
issues to improve illegally the athletic performance.
The use of drugs to enhance performance is considered unethical by most
international sports organizations and especially the International
Olympic Committee. It does concern us, as Track and Field athletes,
because track and field is the only sport that measures the potential of
the "pure" body of the human. This sport is known as the most "fair"
one, it is blind of the issues of color, religion and abilities, this is
why, by using these materials, you are breaking the equilibrium of
sport by having an unfair advantage over the others, then your win will
be unfair, you won't enjoy the victory as if you won with a "pure body",
standing on the podium, you will have a sense of rumor, something will
hide from you the real feel of winning! You will be living in an
illusion, until you realize that you don't deserve the clap of the
public, the tears of your countrymen, and all the honors!
People wake up! A large number of athletes don't know the results of the
illegal use; they only know that it improves performances. When the
spectators see one man chasing victory while the others failing due to
endurance, tiredness, lack of confidence and crushing to the ground
purchasing their limits, for the public, this is more fun! But it is
less fun when the champion that they are encouraging is suffering from
hallucinations, and refuses to continue the race by saying that he
cannot go on with safety, because there is a man who is chasing him
around with a knife in his hand! (example of an athlete without saying names) Some athletes who want to conquer the
field suffered the strain of their power, their faces become hideous
with the tortures that rack them.. This is not sport, it's misery! Some
of them turned to be insane during and after the race, and days and
weeks of recuperation are needed, and it is likely that some of them
never recovered from the strain. Substances can cause psychological
problems for an indefinite period.
"I therefore decided to inject him with a milligram of "substance X"
and to make him drink a large glass brimming with brandy. He set off
again as best he could but he needed another injection four miles from
the end to give him a semblance of speed and to get him to the finish."
This is said by a marathon coach. The marathon runner (without saying
names), was between life and death, but finally survived and took his
gold medal few days after that, but he never run again, even never took
part in this sport. Some of them say that they "keep going on
dynamites", not knowing that one day the dynamite will explode... Human have limits, The marathon runner broke his body support, his limit and fall...
Most tend to use drugs that increase muscle mass and strength, also
these substances are used in medicine, but the side effects are
very large and include harmful changes in cholesterol levels, acne, high
blood pressure, liver damage etc.. The major problem is that athletes,
seniors or youth, are not well aware of doping and can be easily
convinced by other drugs takers that it is beneficent, which is totally
wrong.
Athletes are always willing to do everything and anything even if it was
illegal and unfair to win medals in the Olympic Games, we mention Martti
Vainio (10,000m Silver medalist) in Los Angeles 1984, Ben
Johnson (100m Gold medalist and World Record) in Seoul 1988, Antonia Pettigrew
(4x400m Relay Gold Medalist) and Marion Jones (100m, 200m and 4x400m
Relay Gold medalist, Long Jump and 4x100m Relay bronze medalist) in
Sydney 2000, Adrian Annus (Hammer Throw Gold Medal) with Robert Fazekas
(Discus Throw Gold Medal) and Irina Korzhanenko (Shot Put Gold medal) in
Athens 2004, Lyudmila Blonska (Heptathlon Silver Medalist) and Rashid
Ramzi (1500m Gold Medal), all of these were only tested positive or
falsified the test results in Olympic Games, without mentioning the ones
who didn't win any medal or those who didn't attend the test!
There are also suspected athletes (names will not be mentioned), who
underwent complete physical transformation within a year more
importantly the Olympic year. There are others who died due to heart
attacks; even though it is known that track and fielders and athletes in
general are less prone to such illnesses than a normal (non athletic)
person. There are also others who will never confess.
Any way, we hope that new performance drugs and
new harder-to-detect won't emerge in the next few
years, and that technology can follow suit and improve its
current detection methods. It is the hope of many
athletes and sport organizations around the world that soon, all
cheaters will be caught and there will only be fair games to be played.
Statistics have proven that 80% of athletes who use Performance
enhancing drugs lose popularity. To each athlete who is reading this
article and who was ever influenced by a professional athlete to take
Performance enhancing drugs or by his coach, have the courage to say NO!
Challenge with honor, fairness and respect, show your true potentials
on the track! Be clean, be drug-free! |
