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Codie Newland
Jennifer VanderSlik
ENGL 100-07
3 December 2014
Its Only Illegal IF You Get Caught
Breaking News: Lance Armstrong, seven time winner of the Tour de France has been
stripped of his titles after being found guilty of using steroids. This title more than likely sparks
a memory dating back to 2012 where the infamous American professional cyclist Lance
Armstrong, winner of seven Tour de France titles, was caught using performance enhancing
drugs to boost his performances in the past. Lance Armstrong may be one of the biggest cases in
doping history but he is not the first to have slipped under the radar and take advantage of
performance enhancing drugs; nor will he be the last. There have been plenty of offenders who
have used performance enhancing drugs but there are even more drugs to compare. Doping in
sports nowadays is not allowed legally in organized athletics nor is it something that is promoted
to be used. Still athletes from all ages (generally highs school and up) use performance
enhancing drugs to get the upper hand on the competition.
First off, Athletes use of PEDs dates all the way back to first Olympic Games which was
around 700 B.C. At this time the ancient Greeks would use a very popular drug named doop
which was a process where they would take the thick and sticky latex substance from opium and
made into a juice concoction. Doop is frequently credited to be the main source of where the
term doping has derived from. Doping is the illegal use of a drug (such as steroids) to increase
an athlete's performance. Opium is part of the opium poppy plant and in present times it is used
most frequently to produce heroine. In ancient Greece however it was used as a supplement to

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enhance the Greek athletes performance during the first Olympic Games. What we in present
times consider to be cheap and unsportsmanlike was very common in ancient Greece. Also
around the same time in ancient Rome Gladiators who fought in the coliseum would use certain
hallucinogens or catalysts to enhance their ability to decrease the chance of injuries and fatigue
and also as a way to give their fights a little more life. It was not until the early 1900s when
rules started to be put in place to prevent the use of performance enhancing drugs. The first rule
against doping was put in place by the International Association of Athletics Federation,
otherwise known as the IAAF. The IAAF is the international governing body for the sport of
athletics. During the late 1900s was when athletes started to abuse certain drugs to boost their
performance levels. After World War II plenty of athletes started to use the same drugs soldiers
would use during the war to enhance stamina and prevent fatigue. This would then lead to the
first death at the hands of performance enhancing drugs.
News reports regarding performance enhancing drugs that are heard about most are when
players who are a staple in their specific sport are caught using them. Little are we informed
about the deaths of those who have used PEDs. First person to have passed on due to PEDs is
Knud Jensen during the Olympics in 1960. Jensen was a Danish cyclist who had died during a
team time trial in Roma when he was riding his bicycle and he collapsed and fractured his skull
when he hit the ground. At first the initial record of his death was blamed on a heat stroke that
caused him to pass out. This was not so farfetched because that day it was a scorching 108
degrees Fahrenheit. However, the second autopsy revealed that Jensen had a trace of Roniacol in
his system. Roniacol is a vasodilator, vasodilators are used to increase blood flow to tissues
where they need it the most. Jensens death in the end was not blamed entirely on the roniacol,
but it was considered to be a factor with how he passed out which lead to the fracturing of his

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skull. Another example of death with PEDs involved is the cyclist Tommy Simpson. In 1967
Tommy was participating in the Tour de France (which is located in France) when he collapsed
in the same manner as Knud Jensen and lost consciousness. Simpsons case was different in the
fact that he didnt fracture his skull from the fall. Tommy Simpsons death was looked at just
like Jensens case in the way that he died of heat exhaustion and dehydration. The autopsy for
Simpson had shown he had amphetamines in his bloodstream and later his death would be
partially blamed on the drugs. Simpsons death had also started to raise awareness through
different sports agencies about putting a stop to doping. Both the deaths of Knud Jensen and
Tommy Simpson raised enough awareness to sway the Olympic Games to start drug testing the
participating athletes. This would lead to a number of drug testings which caused numerous
athletes to start to withdraw from the competitions.
When it comes to PEDs the cases where PEDs were blamed as causation are very serious,
but, frequently we hear about the major athletes who get caught using them illegally. There are
many examples where star athletes in their competition received a ban due to doping. One of the
biggest cases involves two of the best sprinters the world has witnessed in the last century, Ben
Johnson from Canada and Carl Lewis from the United States of America. During the 1988
Olympic Games located in Seoul, South Korea, Ben Johnson and Carl Lewis were preparing to
battle it out with the rest of the sprinters in the one hundred meter dash. Ben Johnson Rested into
his blocks, and at the fire of the gun he flew out in front of the competition to maintain a lead he
wouldnt give up. Ben Johnson crossed the finish line with a scorching 9.79 which obliterated
the previous world record, which was held by Ben Johnson himself. That was until only a day
later after a drug test revealed that Ben Johnson had traces of the steroid stanozolol. Carl Lewis
during the same time had also tested positive but he successfully dodged the charges when he

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placed the blame on cold medication (sportsanddrugs.procon.org) following these acts of
cheating plenty of athletes like baseball players Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds and gold
medalist Marion Jones would later test positive and own up to the consequences of their actions.
This led to each of the professional American sports associations to crank up their anti-doping
policies, testing more often and in all the dark grey of using PEDs there is one person who sticks
out from them all as arguably the most notorious athlete known for doping. Lance Armstrong,
winner of seven Tour de France titles spanning from 1999 through the year 2006. Lance
Armstrong was a staple in cycling racing. Dominating the competition time and time again, he
became a household name and a representation for America. Until his name was tarnished when
he was found guilty on charges of doping. Lance Armstrong in 2013 went on stage in a live
interview with Oprah Winfrey and confessed that the allegations set against him were true and he
had used PEDs during his seven title streak. Although he had pointed out that during his
comeback in 2009 through 2010 he did not use PEDs. Lance Armstrongs reign of terror in
professional cycling was dissipated and he was stripped of all seven of his Tour de France titles.
The latest major athlete to be under scrutiny after being tested positive for PEDs is the third
baseman for the New York Yankees, Alex Rodriguez. Alex Rodriguez or commonly known as
A-Rod in 2009 confessed to using PEDs and formally apologized to his fans and his teammates
for the wrongdoings. Upon this confession and the findings proving Rodriguez guilty he was
later banned for the entire 2014 season.
Popular belief is that sports are meant to be honest and fair competition between
competitors, which would immediately mitigate the use of PEDs in sports as they are now. But
there is still the other side of the story, the side that says cheating is okay, and everything goes.
As of right now there is no agencies making a push for PEDs to be legalized in sports, because

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sports are meant to be fairly played. Sure certain players have height mismatches and others are
born with inherited traits that make them better at sports than others. That is just the way the
cookie crumbles however, in races at the Kentucky Derby its dependent on who has the best
strongest breed of horse as to who wins. Not who has the best drug to give their horse to boost its
performance against the competition. On the other hand that is the argument that is used in favor
of PEDs in sports. The fact that other people are born with unfair disadvantages is a perfect
example why PEDs should be legalized in sports. Its not fair that someone may be born only to
be five foot eight and play in a sport with people who are all six foot or taller. Therefore he
should be able to use PEDs since he was not born with the physicality like others so he can make
up for his disadvantage with the use of an outside source other than his own skills and inborn
traits. The case for PEDs to be legalized in sports doesnt have a very strong case to say the least.
Nor will it have any firepower against all the negatives that comes along with using performance
enhancing drugs. Performance enhancing drugs is frowned upon and will never be accepted in
athletics.
Lastly, the list of drugs that are banned in competition is quite long, but here is a
rundown of the most popular substances and methods used. First is the most popular substance
used, but arguably the most used performance enhancing drug in late history is the Anabolic
steroid. The definition for the anabolic steroid is:
Anabolic steroids is the familiar name for synthetic variants of the male sex
hormone testosterone. The proper term for these compounds is anabolicandrogenic steroids (abbreviated AAS)anabolic referring to muscle-building
and androgenic referring to increased male sexual characteristics.
(drugabuse.gov)

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Originally anabolic steroids were prescribed for health issues but bodybuilders and athletes alike
both have abused the drugs to increase physical strength and appearance. There are risks for
frequently using steroids for males and females alike. Since there is an increase in testosterone it
increases the amount of facial hair a female may grow. A noticeable factor with females who use
steroids is how they look as though they have a masculine body or the body of a man (I.e.
Marion Jones) A lot of cases the female athletes body will look more masculine than male
athletes which is a good indication steroids are being used. Males on the other hand will
experience a shriveling of the testacles due to overuse. Nothing to compare to female athletes
with in their case. Next is the most common method which is blood doping. Blood doping is an
illicit method of improving athletic performance by artificially boosting the blood's ability to
bring more oxygen to muscles. (webmd.com) Risks following blood doping is contracting a
disease such as hepatitis or HIV other risks involve heart related issues like strokes, heart attacks
and/or heart disease.
In conclusion, performance enhancing drugs have been around since ancient times and
there is never going to be a way to completely stop them from being used in sports. They are
frowned upon and those who have used them in sports have been disgraced and ashamed. There
is still a grey area left as to whether or not they should be accepted outside of moral beliefs in
sports. If you do decide to use performance enhancing drugs outside of sports, use them
sparingly and how they are supposed to be used. Abusing PEDs is just as bad as abusing
prescription drugs or any other illegal drug. The side effects can be detrimental if you are not
careful.

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Works Cited
BBC North East & Cumbria. REMEMBERING A SENSATION. 4 Oct. 2004. Web. 2 Dec.
2014. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/northeast/series6/cycling.shtml>.
Blood Doping: Types, Risks, and Tests. WebMD. Web. 2 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/blood-doping>.
Calamur, Krishnadev. Lance Armstrong Admits To Using Performance-Enhancing Drugs. 17
Jan. 2013. Web. 2 Dec. 2014. <http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwoway/2013/01/17/169650077/lance-armstrong-to-admit-to-using-performance-enhancingdrugs>.
Historical Timeline: History of Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sports. Web. 2 Dec. 2014.
<http://sportsanddrugs.procon.org/view.timeline.php?timelineID=000017>.
Hoch, Bryan. Rodriguez reveals he cheated, lied. 10 Feb. 2009. Web. 2 Dec. 2014.
<http://m.mlb.com/news/article/3811116/>.
Montague, James. Hero or villain? Ben Johnson and the dirtiest race in history. 23 July 2012.
Web. 2 Dec. 2014. <http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/23/sport/olympics-2012-benjohnson-seoul-1988-dirtiest-race/>.
National Institute on Drug Abuse. DrugFacts: Anabolic Steroids. July 2012. Web. 2 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/anabolic-steroids>.
OlyMADMen. Knud Enemark Jensen Bio, Stats, and Results. Web. 2 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/je/knud-enemark-jensen-1.html>.

World Anti-Doping Agency. Methods Prohibited In Competition. Web. 2 Dec. 2014.

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---. Substances Prohibited In Competition. Web. 2 Dec. 2014. <http://list.wadaama.org/prohibited-in-competition/prohibited-substances/>.