In sports, you’re either first or nothing- at least according to most professional athletes. We must acknowledge that most athletes are ambassadors of clean sports and advocates of anti-doping rules. Some, however, will do everything to become world champions, even if that means turning to performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs).
The use of performance-enhancing drugs has been a part of sports since 1904. While the World Anti-Doping Agency has launched sensitive tests for various doping drugs, sports drug cheats keep getting smarter.
Why do people in sports do drugs banned in professional games? We look at how doping works, why it’s difficult to stop completely, and its health and legal consequences.
What is Doping?
Doping in sports is when athletes try to cheat the system by using substances that enhance performance.
The use of illegal doping drugs cuts across all sports. But cycling, an endurance sport where the chances of winning hinge on oxygen delivery rate to the muscles, is the most affected, followed by weightlifting, boxing, baseball, ice hockey, and athletics. Sports like aquatics, archery, and bobsleigh have the lowest doping rates but have been recording an increase since 2003.
How Doping in Sports is Done
It’s normal to feel tired when participating in a low-intensity or high-intensity activity. This occurs because your muscles don’t get enough energy to meet the demand.
You need oxygen whether you’re exercising or not. When you breathe in, the red blood cells carry oxygen to your muscles, where it’s used for aerobic respiration. Aerobic respiration is a crucial process that produces Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) molecule, which your muscle cells use as fuel.
You need oxygen whether you’re exercising or not. But your muscles need to generate more energy during intense and prolonged physical activities. When there are not enough red blood cells to deliver more oxygen quickly, your muscles “burn out,” and performance lowers. This is where doping comes in.
Sports dopers use illegal means to increase their red blood cell count. Doing this enables them to maintain greater oxygen capacity. As such, they can maintain a consistently high performance long after “clean” athletes have given in to fatigue.
There are two major ways athletes increase their red blood cell count illegally:
- Illicit blood transfusions
- Administration of banned performance-enhancement drugs (PEDs)
Illicit Blood Transfusions
There are two types of illicit blood transfusions used to increase athletes’ red blood cell count: autologous and homologous.
An autologous transfusion is when an athlete’s blood is drawn and safely stored until needed. On the day of competition, the athlete’s blood is reinfused to their body, giving them an instant boost in red blood cell count. Homologous transfusion takes a similar approach, only that the blood is obtained from someone of the same blood type.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned Illicit blood transfusion in sports in 1985, although it was only in 2004 that labs developed a test for homologous blood transfusion. The sad fact is that autologous blood transfusion still goes undetected today.
Administration of PEDs
Performance-enhancing substances are mostly drugs and hormones that, when taken, can give an athlete with average genetics an unfair edge on “clean” athletes. These performance-enhancing substances are secretly distributed by a network of rogue doctors, chemists, chiropractors, and trainers.
Most doping drugs aren’t necessarily illegal substances. Actually, the same drugs used for problems like depression, sleep disorders, fertility, and anemia can also be used to enhance performance.
One such drug is erythropoietin (EPO). EPO is a type of hormone produced by the kidney and released into the blood. It tells the bone marrow to produce more red blood cells, increasing the amount of oxygen delivered to the tissues.
EPO can also be synthesized in labs. Genetically-engineered EPO can also stimulate the bone marrow just like the body’s natural hormones. This method of cheating became a favourite among doppers in the 1990s as it was neater and more convenient.
The use of EPO for sports doping attracted global attention when 18 Tour de France cyclists, including Floyd Landis and Lance Armstrong, got caught up in a doping controversy.
Other types of illegal doping drugs in sports include testosterone, modafinil, insulin, clomiphene, Wellbutrin, and HCG. Modafinil is a Central Nervous System (CNS) medication used off the label by athletes to improve focus and attention.
When used for doping, insulin works to enhance glucose uptake and aids in the storage of glycogen fuel. Insulin is also used alongside anabolic steroids or human growth hormones to slow muscle deterioration. The fact that insulin is undetectable by currently available sports doping tests makes it a popular option, especially among bodybuilders and track racers.
The Dark Side of Doping: Risks and Consequences
The allure of fame and bagging lucrative sports deals has pressured many athletes into a dangerous drug culture. Doping drugs may be just another tool that people in sports use to get a winning edge and achieve their personal goals. But the fact is that sports doping drugs are doing athletes more harm than good.
Prof. Ken Ho, a senior endocrinologist, says that injecting more human growth hormone than the body needs does not make an individual stronger. On the contrary, it puts you at significant health risks, including diabetes, heart disease, and cardiomegaly (enlarged heart muscle, which could be fatal).
Experts agree that more is not better when it comes to injecting human growth hormone. While larger muscles are aesthetically appealing, they are not always stronger. Prof. Ho adds that such muscles have more water and less muscle fibre.
The risks of abusing EPO are just as dire as HGH. The reinfusion of one’s blood (or someone else’s) carries the risk of stroke, heart attack, or thrombosis (blood clots in the vessels). Between 1987 and 1990, several young Dutch and Belgian cyclists died mysteriously a few days after racing. While the causes of death were not specified, anecdotal evidence pointed at EPO.
Anti-doping rule violations may lead to sanctions for individual players or entire teams. In some cases, using illicit performance-enhancing substances and techniques may cause a loss of sponsorship or be stripped of previous awards or titles.
On top of the far-reaching and damaging consequences of doping, this drug culture kills the spirit of sports and betrays your fans’ trust.
