Drugs in sport

Question 1

Why do performers take PEDs

Answer 1

• Lack morality and willing to cheat
• Can assume everyone else is taking them- level playing field
• They believe success is only achievable via drugs
• Unaware they are taking drugs- coach
• Unaware of health risks
• Experience outside pressure to achieve
• Feel tempted to speed up recovery

Question 2

Doping

Answer 2

In competitive sports, doping refers to the use of banned performance enhancing drugs by athletic competitors

Question 3

What are Anabolic steroids

Answer 3

Artificially produced hormones

Question 4

What are the benefits of Anabolic steroids

Answer 4

+ Aid in the storage of protein
+ Promote muscle growth
+ Increase development of muscle tissue
+ Increase strength and power
+ Less fat in muscle
+ Improve capacity to train harder and for longer
+ Decrease fatigue in training

Question 5

Which athletes may use Anabolic steroids

Answer 5

Beneficial to power athletes such as sprinters

Question 6

What are the side effects of using Anabolic steroids

Answer 6

• Liver damage
• Heart problems
• Acne
• Aggression
• Paranoia
• Mood swings

Question 7

What are Beta blockers

Answer 7

Help to calm an individual down and decrease anxiety by counteracting the adrenaline that interferes with performance by preventing it from binding to nerve receptors

Question 8

What are the benefits of Beta blockers

Answer 8

+ Improved accuracy in precision
+ Calm performance anxiety
+ Keeping heart rate low
+ Increase blood flow
+ Reducing involuntary muscle spasms

Question 9

Which athletes may use Beta blockers

Answer 9

High precision sports such as archery, snooker and golf

Question 10

What are the side effects of using Beta blockers

Answer 10

• Tiredness
• Aerobic capacity effected due to slower heart rate

Question 11

What are EPO

Answer 11

A natural hormone produced by the kidneys to increase red blood cells. Now it can be artificially manufactured to cause an increase in haemoglobin

Question 12

What are the benefits of EPO

Answer 12

+ Stimulates red blood cell production
+ Increase in oxygen carrying capacity
+ Increases endurance
+ Delays the onset of fatigue
+ Recover quicker

Question 13

Which athletes may use EPO

Answer 13

Tends to be used by endurance performers who need effective oxygen transport in order to succeed in their sport

Question 14

What are the side effects of EPO

Answer 14

• Blood clotting
• Stroke
• Death

Question 15

Stimulants

Answer 15

Drugs that induce a temporary improvement in mental and physical function

Question 16

Erythropoietin (EPO)

Answer 16

A hormone which is naturally produced by the kidneys but can also be artificially produced to increase performance in endurance athletes

Question 17

Tetrahydrogestrinone (THG)

Answer 17

A banned steroid used to increase power which was tweaked by chemists to make it undetectable by ‘normal tests’

Question 18

Negative implications to the sport of drug taking

Answer 18

• Threatens the spirit of the sport
• Cheating
• Negatively damages reputation
• Decreases interests
• Suspicion on winning athletes
• Negative Role Models

Question 19

Positive implications to the performer of drug taking

Answer 19

+ Positively impact performance
+ Bring fame and fortune

Question 20

Negative implications to the performer of drug taking

Answer 20

• Provides negative role models
• Very damaging to performers health
• Lose their good reputation
• Career prospects may be negatively impacted- lose sponsors
• Loss of Income
• Bans or Fines
• Stripped of medals
• Isolation from peers

Question 21

Strategies for elimination of performance-enhancing drugs in sport (DOPING)

Answer 21

• Drug free culture created via education programmes (100% me campaign)
• Organisations involved in drug detection/enforcement need to work together
• Punishments need to be harsher
• Investment is required into new testing programmes/tech
• Name and Shame negative role models
• Guilty lose funding/sponsorship deals

Question 22

Whereabouts system

Answer 22

A system designed to support out of the competition testing. which requires athletes to supply the details of their whereabouts so that they can be located at any time and anywhere for testing, without advanced notice

Question 23

WADA (the Word Anti-Doping Agency)

Answer 23

A foundation created in 1999 through a collective initiative led by the IOC to promote, co-ordinate and monitor the fight against drugs in sport

Question 24

Arguments for the legalisation of drug taking and testing

Answer 24

+ The battle against drugs is expensive and time consuming
+ Drugs are quite easy to access and very difficult to eliminate and money spent on them could be better spent elsewhere
+ Detection isn’t always effective
+ Always one step behind
+ Sometimes its difficult to define what is a ‘drug’ compared to a legal supplement
+ Drugs are sometimes taken accidentally
+ If everyone takes drugs it levels the playing field
+ Athletes don’t ask to be role models

Question 25

Arguments against drug taking and testing

Answer 25

• Drug taking is illegal
• Only richer countries can afford them
• Taking drugs is cheating
• Heath risks and side effects
• Negative role models
• Pressure to take drugs increases from coaches and peers who take drugs
• Success in sport should be due to hard work
• Unfair advantage
• Lose sponsors, medals, funding and income