In all sports, there are rules over drugs and doping to stop competitors
cheating, and in most of them there are examples where the rules have been
broken, with Olympic events seeing many drugs cheats over the years. Notable
cheats have been Ben Johnson who won the 100m gold in a world record smashing
time of 9.79 seconds at the 1988 Olympics, and Marion Jones who won five
athletics gold medals at the 2000 Olympics before admitting drugs use. But
before we get hung up on the fact they cheated, just think about what they
achieved for a moment. Johnson blitzed the field in his 100m final, breaking the
world record with 9.79 seconds, a time which is still seriously quick even by
today’s standards. It was a mega sprint and everyone was amazed with the race,
before the cheat problems arose. Also with Jones, winning five gold medals in
various athletics events is staggering, showing winning capabilities in a range
of events. Armstrong also deserves some credit as he still won seven titles with
fellow cheats as competitors. These are all remarkable feats, and they were all
a result of cheating and seeking to gain an advantage, whether it’s through
blood doping or other drugs. The shame about it comes when you consider the
honest individuals who trained all their life to win without taking drugs or
cheat, but have virtually no chance; that isn’t fair. So what if we remove the
honest people from the competition and just have doped up competitors. This
would therefore remove the sad aspect of an honest person having no chance, but
still provides us with thrilling, amazing sporting moments, as well as good competition
towards it, which would lead to even better results. It would be a chance to
see what humans are physically capable of doing when there are no rules to slow
them down.
Ben Johnson's amazing 100m sprint
Ben Johnson's amazing 100m sprint
Of course there would be issues raised over it, such as health and
ethical issues. Some could say that it could have bad effects on the body and
the person’s health to take drugs or participate in blood doping, however there
are so many examples of drugs cheats within sport, and there have been no major
health issues over taking certain performance enhancing drugs. Within cycling,
17 of the last 33 Tour De France victories have been won by someone cheating
through doping and drugs including riders from the US Postal Service team, with
whom Lance Armstrong rode. Doping and drugs have been tried by many people and
there haven’t been adverse effects, just mind-blowing performances. Also,
within professional sport already, competitors are surrounded by doctors and
other medical staff, monitoring them so they would be in safe hands for taking
drugs and spotting potential problems that could arise. Another issue could be
that it doesn’t set a good example to children to have drug takers and cheaters
as role models, but it’s not as bad as it sounds. Cheating is already rife amongst
sport, such as diving in football which is the most popular sport in the world.
Kids also get taught to cheat in many other things, such as video game cheat codes,
and robbing the bank in Monopoly. Cheating is a way of life and everyone does
it at some point in their life. If anything, it goes against cheating, as the
competitors have become equal. If one kid robs the bank in Monopoly, then it’s
unfair and cheating, but if they all rob the bank and end up with an equal
share of money then no advantage has been gained amongst them, they are just going
to have one heck of a game, as they all have lots of money. As for the drugs,
is it such a problem? It teaches kids to push themselves and strive for the
best, but also that drugs must be safe and taken under supervision, in the right
environment. It’s a similar thing with motorsport: professionals race on the
track, as it’s a safe, controlled environment, but not on the public roads.
Motorsport is dangerous, but is very safe in the right environment, unlike on
the public roads where it is serious. A small minority could look at motorsport
and think ‘yes, I want to try that in my car down the high street’, but that is
no reason to ban the sport. There is a clear distinction between right and
wrong, and as long as that is message passed onto the public it should be fine.
The Doping Olympics could be a place where humans can push themselves
to the true limit, and seek what is physically possible, using what is
available to them to go faster for longer and win. The idea already legally
exists in the normal Olympics, as athletes take energy drinks and other energy
foods to give themselves an advantage and then there are artificially and
scientifically designed prosthetics in the Paralympics, but it would just be
taking it further to gain an even bigger advantage. It would no longer be
cheating as everyone would be the same, and would provide such a spectacle as
we’ve seen from current drug takers in sports, just without all the fallout
afterwards about the cheating. As long as it was organised and carried out
properly so that athletes knew and understood what they were entering as well
as being monitored by medical staff throughout it should be fine. The normal
Olympics would be there as the main event for ‘proper’ athletes, but then
afterwards, there could be the Doping Olympics where they go to extremes. It
would be the Olympics on drugs, and it would be phenomenal. It would provide
additional benefits, as all the monitoring of athletes taking drugs in the
Doping Olympics would result in good research to help officials find cheats in
the real Olympics and put them in the right competition, and for the viewers it
would provide all the excitement of smashing world records, but without the
cheating drawbacks.