The Doping Olympics, could it work?

Last week, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA)  concluded in a report that seven times Tour De France winner Lance Armstrong led “the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen”. Of course this is a great shame that one of the legends of cycling cheated to win his seven titles, and has been subsequently stripped of them. However, the feat of winning the Tour De France seven times is still incredible, and there was still significant competition despite the doping as it seems that many others within cycling were also in on it and seeking to gain an illegal advantage. I can’t help but think though that with all the doping going on, the advantage they were seeking to gain had been wiped out by the fact that many others were also doing it and therefore levels out the playing field. Yes, there would have been the honest cyclists being left behind by the dopers, but it creates a two tier competition, those doping and those not doping, which makes me consider the question: could there be a separate completion category in sport where doping is allowed and all competitors are allowed to cheat to see what can be accomplished. The Doping Olympics if you will.

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

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.

Europe’s Ryder cup victory: Best sporting comeback ever?

Europe’s final day fight back victory against the USA in golf’s prestigious Ryder Cup has already got people calling it the greatest sporting comeback ever. Going into the final day, USA were leading 10-6, and only needed 4 ½ points of the 12 on offer for the final day, whereas Europe needed 8½. Making it even harder for the Europeans was the vocal support from the American Medinah crowd, chanting “U-S-A” for most of the tournament. Despite this, the European team led by Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal managed to overhaul the American’s advantage to steal the necessary 8½ points to take the final scores to 14½-13½. The minority European crowd helped spur them on to victory with their alternate chant of “ole, ole ole ole” to further frustrate the Americans; not only had they lost an almost certain victory, but they were out-supported on their own turf.

Ryder Cup Highlights

Certainly, a truly memorable comeback not just for golf, but for the whole of sport. But was it the best sporting comeback? I’ve come up with 5 more memorable sport comebacks that could also be seen as just as difficult and amazing:

-1972 Olympic Basketball Final, USA v USSR

In 1972, the cold war meant relations between America and the Soviet Union weren’t at their best, so when they met in the Olympic basketball gold medal match (in Germany of all places), it was clear it would be a tense game. It couldn’t have been better set. The USA had been favourites to win the game as their team was undefeated in the tournament, and had won the previous seven basketball gold medals. It was America’s sport and they seemed destined to win and get a satisfying victory over their great rivals. All did not go to plan, though. They were trailing the whole game, but with then with the game at 49-49 and with seconds to go, they scored one point to take the lead for the first time in the match and make it 49-50 with only 3 seconds to go. The Russians bring the ball back into play, and the horn blows; cue the celebrations from the Americans, they have beaten the Russians in the finals seconds. But no, officials have to come onto the court to tell the jubilant American team that it wasn’t the end of the game, the horn was for a Russian time-out, and there were still 3 seconds to play. The Russians had 3 seconds to get the ball down the court and score a winner, and they were going to make it happen. Play resumes, the ball is launched down the court to be caught and bundled though the net within 3 seconds. The Soviet Union had done it, bringing an end to America’s dominance at their own sport, in the middle of the cold war, and it couldn’t have happened in more dramatic circumstances.
Dramatic final seconds coverage

-2011 Formula One Canadian Grand Prix

It turned out to be the longest Grand Prix ever at over 4 hours long, due to the horrible rain on race day but the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix also proved to be one of the best races ever and providing one of the greatest comebacks ever. The race started under safety car due to the conditions, with Sebastian Vettel on pole storming away with the lead. McLaren however were going to have a terrible start to the race. Lewis Hamilton hit Mark Webber going into turn one causing them both to lose places, and for Hamilton to end up behind his team mate Jenson Button. At the end of lap 7, Hamilton tried overtaking Button down the main straight, but due to the spray, neither driver could see each other well, and it resulted with Hamilton colliding with Button and hitting the pit wall. Hamilton was out, and Button pitted at the end of the lap for damage checks. Luckily, Button had no damage, but it turns out he broke the speed limit in the pit lane and was given a drive-through penalty, dropping him to 18^th. The red flag came out on lap 25 for heavy rain and there was a 2 hour wait before the weather calmed. After the restart, Button made contact with Fernando Alonso, putting Alonso out and giving Button a puncture. By this stage he was 21^st and last, with 30 laps to go. But Button was now a man on a mission. He is arguably the best driver in wet/drying conditions and in the next 20 laps made his way up to 4^th place. Vettel was still in the lead, having been on his own for the whole race, but in the final 10 laps, Button took Webber and Schumacher to take 2^nd place and was hunting down Vettel, cutting his lead lap after lap. Then on the final lap, Button was right behind and pressurised Vettel into a mistake of running wide, allowing him to take the lead and win the race, after being last just 30 laps previous. Button described it as the best win of his career and the race has been described as one of the best in Formula One history.

Race Highlights

 

-2010 UK Snooker Championship Final, John Higgins v Mark Williams

The final of the snooker UK Championship proved to be a great comeback story for two different reasons. John Higgins had just returned from a 6-month suspension due to a match fixing fiasco, and stormed into the final despite the recent lack of tournament play and damaging headlines. Adding to his troubles during his suspension, John’s father the great Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins died, making the whole time a much more difficult situation for him and his family. It seemed a wonder that he was able to come back into a major tournament and reach the final, which was an achievement in itself, but Higgins was determined to go one step further and win the title. Unfortunately, the final didn’t start well. His opponent Mark Williams was on form and built an advantage straight away meaning he started the evening session leading 6-2. The match was best of 19 frames, so Williams only needed 4 more frames to win. The first frame of the session Williams won taking it to 7-2, with it looking like he was going to carry on in his top form and Higgins trailing. But Higgins began to fight back, bringing it to 7-4, then 8-5. Williams got the score to 9-5, meaning he had match frame; Higgins had to win the next 5 frames in a row. He won the next 2 frames to take it to 9-7, but in the next frame, Williams looked like he was going to finally wrap it up. The score was 69-40 to Williams, he had a 29 point advantage with only 27 points left on the table, and the title was in his grasp. But still Higgins wouldn’t give in. After a battle of trying to snooker each other, Higgins forced the mistake on Williams, potting the cue ball, giving Higgins the extra four points he needed to then win the frame, which he did to bring the score to 9-8. Higgins now had the momentum. He won the next frame taking it to 9-9 and the deciding frame, where he pulled out a good advantage over Williams. However it wasn’t over yet, as he wasn’t able to pot the brown and another round of trying to snooker each other began, at which point Higgins took a major risk: rather than go for the safety shot, he went for a double across the entire length of the table, and amazingly pulled it off, followed by a long pot on the blue to win the championship. Williams was shell-shocked at the end, whilst Higgins celebrated and dedicated the win to his family, who have been through so much recently. A remarkable sporting comeback, not just for the match, but for the troubling issues that preceded it.
Final frames highlights

 

-2005 UEFA Champions League Final, Liverpool v AC Milan

AC Milan were clear favourites going into the game. They were the Serie A champions, whereas Liverpool had finished 5^th in the Premier League, behind local rivals Everton in 4^th place who took the final Champions League spot. Liverpool weren’t going to be in the Champions League next season unless they won the final, and qualified as cup holders. Almost all the stats were against Liverpool. AC Milan had won the competition more times than Liverpool (6 wins compared to Liverpool’s 4), they had won the completion more recently (AC Milan won it 2 years previous, whereas Liverpool won it over 20 years previous), and Milan had competed in more finals (10 appearances to Liverpool’s 6). The facts said Milan would easily beat Liverpool, and this seemed the case in the first half of the match. Milan scored within the first minute of the match to confirm why they were favourites. They scored two more later in the half to make it 3-0 at half time. This was easy for Milan, they were walking all over Liverpool; the question wasn’t who would win anymore, it was how many would Milan score. Half time marked a turning point though, Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez must have given the half time talk of the century as Liverpool came out to the 2^nd half fighting. Firstly, captain Steven Gerrard pulled one back, two minutes later Vladimir Smicer scored a 2^nd, and then another 6 minutes later Liverpool were gifted a penalty, where Xabi Alonso  scored to bring it back to 3-3. This was mad. Milan were arguably the best team in the world and had steamrollered them so far, and yet Liverpool had fought back from a 3 goal deficit to bring it level. Liverpool held on to the 3-3 draw, took the game to penalties and pulled out an early advantage with the score at 2-0 to Liverpool thanks to goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek’s ‘spaghetti legs’ distraction. Milan pulled one back on the 3^rd penalty, and both teams scored the 4^th, but now Milan had to score the 5^th to stay in with a shout of winning. Coveted talisman striker Shevchenko took it, but Dudek saved it. Liverpool had won the Champions League despite being written off by many before the game had even begun, and certainly beyond hope at half time. It was the greatest final of the greatest club competition, and it had gained Liverpool a 2^nd amazing comeback by being grated a place in next season’s competition even though they finished 5^th in the Premier League.
Match Highlights

-Alex Zanardi

Alex Zanardi achieved his own unique comeback, starting 11 years ago and reaching its peak earlier this summer. What’s amazing about Zanardi’s comeback is that it was more than just one event, and more than one sport as well. Throughout the 90’s and early 2000’s, Zanardi was racing in Formula One, Indycar, and Champ Car, where he won the Champ Car title twice in 1997 and 1998. He moved back to Formula One for 1999, but unfortunately didn’t get a drive for 2000. Due to this he moved back to Champ Car for 2001, where he wasn’t quite in the same form of old, until a race at the Lausitzring in Germany. Here, he was back in his form of old, he was leading the race in the closing stages and came in for a final pit stop, however upon leaving the pit lane, he lost control of the car and spun into the track ending up sideways. One driver avoided him, a 2^nd driver behind, didn’t and T-boned Zanardi’s car at 200mph. The impact resulted in Zanardi losing both of his legs. Medical help was tending to him immediately, but he was losing pints of blood. He was air lifted to hospital, and was read last rites on the helicopter. But he just about managed to hold out, made it to the hospital and performed lifesaving surgery. Since the crash, he had lost over ¾ of his blood and medically should have been dead, but he survived. He then started a long road to recovery with prosthetic legs, and only 2 years later was back behind the wheel of a specially adapted Champ Car with hand controls to complete the final 13 laps of the Lausitzring that he never did. Since then, he moved onto the World Touring Car Championship, where he achieved podiums and victories amongst fully able bodied racers, despite his handicap, which in itself is a remarkable. But then Zanardi wanted a new challenge, and began hand cycling. He was so serious about wanting to do well in hand cycling that he gave up motorsport to focus on it, and all the practice he did was for the London 2012 Paralympics. It had been announced that the Paralympic road cycling course would be using Brands Hatch race circuit, which spurred Zanardi on even more, it almost felt like it was meant to be. At the age of 45, he wasn’t the youngest entering the race, but even still managed to overcome the age factor and take not one, but two gold medals at Brands Hatch, as well as a silver medal. Ever since 2001, almost everything has been stacked against Zanardi, but he still managed to defy doctors, age, handicaps, and various other difficulties to be a success in two different sports. Personally, I think this is the greatest sporting comeback as it goes beyond sport. When he was medically dead, sport didn’t matter at all, but he still came back and he is still coming back after 11 years.
Alex Zanardi's Crash and His Recovery