topic proposal rough draft

Kristen Ott

Professor: Thomas

Composition 102: rough draft

15 April 2013

Doping in Sports and Biological Passport

Can you imagine being the athlete that gets second to Lance Armstrong in the Tour De France then years later finding out he was cheating the entire time? Drug testing needs to be more efficient so doping can be detected faster. In the article “Are athletes doped? Some theoretical arguments and empirical evidence."  We read how typically we look at athletes as clean competitors, however dating back to the 1960s, doping cases have taken over the professional world of sports. (Dilger etal) The number of doping cases has created an enormous problem in professional sports today. Lance Armstrong is a prime example of the serious consequences that come with cheating in such sports as bicycling.  In order to stop or cut down on doping in sports the United States anti-doping agency should introduce the biological passport which would create an ongoing record for professional athletes to make it easier to detect banned drugs.

Past and Present

The earliest records of doping in sport come from the Ancient Olympics games when athletes are reported to have taken figs to improve their performance. (Williams) As agencies grew more aware of the issue they decided to start testing athletes and put a ban of drugs. In the early 19th century athletes started experimenting with drugs to enhance strength and overcome fatigue. (Holt) Since it was not yet illegal there was no telling the extent of what these athletes would do to win. Now that there are rules set in place it makes it harder on athletes, but not impossible yet, for them to cheat.

In Sports Illustrated Magazine Michael Rosenberg reports “In 2004 there were 26 reported cases of doping in the summer Olympics alone.” While sports began to grow larger so did the need to succeed. Time went on and athletes started realizing that using certain performance enhancing drugs would increase their chances of winning. More winning meant the more sponsors, endorsements, and of course, fans. As I hear these excuses or lack thereof it doesn’t make sense to me. Being an athlete myself I know that the pressure always fueled me. Just the fact that these athletes went years lying is astonishing, winning would not be the same knowing you cheated. Doping in sports has been around for many years and is only getting worse. Urine sampling was supposed to be a test that would no longer allow athletes to cheat.

Failure to enforce testing

            “I’m clean, check the test.” For professional athletes to be able to compete they have to go through testing to prove they aren’t using any performance enhancing drugs. This test is to prove that it will be a good clean race. The test that is currently being used is urine testing. This test breaks down particles in the urine in search for anything suspicious such as banned drugs.  In the article "Racing just to keep up: anti-doping researchers are looking for new ways to catch cheaters. Can a biological passport help to save the sport?" Callaway explains how countless number of doping scandals shows that even with such test there is no guarantee for a drug free race.

You would think that urine sampling would be an efficient way of detection right? Wrong. There are ways to avoid detection such as taking pills to wash your system and even falsifying urine samples. (Callaway) Most of these athletes end up finding way to avoid detection and get away with doping. For example, Lance Armstrong was doping for over a decade before he was eventually caught. (Rosenberg) Lance was stripped of all 7 of his Tour De France titles and had to pay back all of his endorsement money. All of the races he cheated in, all of the people he lied to, Lance would have never gotten away with it for so long if the testing had been able to detect him the first time. Michael Rosenberg said “Lance Armstrong would have been nobody without the help of doping.” Should it even get to that point though? A more efficient test needs to be put in place before the truthful athletes get second.

What is the Biological Passport?

            Somehow athletes have found a way to avoid being detected through urine sample so this test is no longer bullet proof. Now the urine sampling is proven to not be enough it is time to enforce a new type of detection. Drug agencies have been recently talking about a biological passport. The urine testing became unsuccessful because all it did was break down the products in it for traces of drugs.  Callaway says “The new idea of the biological passport builds up a profile for each athlete over time to try and detect biochemical changes that might indicate doping.” This new form of testing would not just check for drugs at the moment but detect any change that appears overtime also. This would narrow the chances of avoiding detection. Some researchers say that the passport offers the best line of defense against performance enhancing drug use, which has fooled inspectors for the past two decades. Biological passports to detect steroid and growth-factor doping are the upcoming solution that could end doping in sports. (Callaway)

Problem solver

            The Canadian government has renewed its 957,729 contribution to the World Anti-Doping Agency for 2012. (Kondro) These agencies say they are committed to finding a solution for this issue and holding those athletes responsible for their actions. All of the money put into the urine testing could be used to enforce the new biological passport. In the "Athlete Biological Passport - World Anti-Doping Agency,” the WADA explains how the fundamental principle of the Athlete Biological Passport is based on the monitoring of selected biological parameters over time that will indirectly reveal the effects of doping rather than attempting to detect the doping substance itself. The agencies are working on making the detections stronger by making it possible to detect even the smallest amount of drugs. The fight against doping relies on several strategies, including the direct testing of athletes as well as evidence gathered in the context of non-analytical doping violations. By combining these strategies, and seeking new ones to address emerging threats, the global fight against doping is more effective.(WADA) They plan on implementing this new form of testing for all athletes in not just cycling but every professional sport.

Some say it will cost too much to enforce this new type of testing so there would be no point. In reality by implementing the biological passport these agencies will save money in the end. The critics are overlooking the amount of money the agencies pay for every doping scandal investigation. It would be worth spending the extra money to implement the more efficient testing so they could save money with a fewer number of doping cases. Lance Armstrong is an American professional cyclist who has a net worth of $125 million. In the article "Lance Armstrong Net Worth," Brian Warner says Lance makes roughly 15 million dollars a year from speaking engagements, public appearance fees and sponsorships alone. With professional athletes making this much in one year they should be able to pay for testing themselves to prove they are clean. No matter what way you look at it the biological passport would cost less money than the urine sampling along with all the doping scandals.

At the end of the race

Is it okay for your children to cheat in “Duck, Duck, Goose” or lie to get ahead in a game of tag?  It’s hard to teach children not to do these things while their favorite sports player is doing just that. In the article titles “Lance Armstrong Doping Confession: In Any Sport, Drugs Are Drugs." It brings up the possibility that these younger athletes may think it is okay to dope if they don’t believe that talent and determination is no longer sufficient enough. Implementing the biological passport would enable the anti-doping agencies to detect the cheating before it even gets to the public.

No matter how you look at it, doping is a form of cheating. Urine sampling is no longer efficient enough to stop doping. This idea for the biological passport sounds to be the most recent, more efficient way to put an end to cheating in professional sports.

           

 

 

Works Citied

"Athlete Biological Passport - World Anti-Doping Agency." World Anti-Doping Agency. WADA, 20 Nov. 2012. Web. 14 Apr. 2013.

Callaway, Ewen. "Racing just to keep up: anti-doping researchers are looking for new ways to catch cheaters. Can a biological passport help to save the sport?" Nature 475.7356 (2011): 283+. Academic OneFile. Web. 12 Apr. 2013.

Dilger, Alexander, Bernd Frick, and Frank Tolsdorf. "Are athletes doped? Some theoretical arguments and empirical evidence." Contemporary Economic Policy 25.4 (2007): 604+. Academic OneFile. Web. 12 Apr. 2013.

Holt, RI. "Result Filters." National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 19 Aug. 2009. Web. 12 Apr. 2013.

Kondro, Wayne. "Anti-doping allocation." CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal 15 May 2012: E414. Academic OneFile. Web. 12 Apr. 2013.

"Lance Armstrong Doping Confession: In Any Sport, Drugs Are Drugs." Monitors Editorial Board.  The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, 17 Jan. 2013. Web. 12 Apr. 2013.

Rosenberg, Michael. "Here's the Truth: Without Doping Lance Armstrong Would Be Nobody." SI.com. Sports Illustrated, 18 Jan. 2012. Web. 12 Apr. 2013.

Warner, Brian. "Lance Armstrong Net Worth." RSS. Celebrity Net Worth, 22 Oct. 2012. Web. 14 Apr. 2013.