Medicine And Science In Sports Essays

Medicine And Science In Sports Essays Medicine And Science In Sports Paper Medicine And Science In Sports Paper The famous cycling competition, Tour de France, is now world renowned, not only for its accomplishments, but also for the drugs scandals it has faced in recent years. In 2006, its American winner Floyd Landis tested positive for unusual levels of testosterone, after stage 17 of the Tour (BBC, 2006). Landis denied cheating, and asked for a counter analysis to clear his name (BBC, 2006). However, his backup dope test also came back positive, showing that his B sample, as well as his A sample, contained synthetic testosterone. This denies his earlier claim that his body had been naturally producing more than the normal levels of testosterone, as synthetic testosterone can only come from outside sources (MSNBC, 2006). In the same year, two of Lance Armstrong’s teammates, confessed to having used EPO, a banned performance enhancement drug, in the 1999 Tour de France (Macur, 2006). EPO, or erythropoietin, is a synthetic hormone that boosts the body’s production of oxygen-rich red blood cells (Macur, 2006). It allows the rider to have increased stamina, which is crucial to cyclists (Macur, 2006). It is believed that doping, or ingesting stimulants, has always been an integral part of the culture of top-level cycling (Cannon). Stimulants such as amphetamine forces the body to produce adrenaline and increase the muscles capacity to work (Cannon). A stimulant would equip a cyclist with increased attention, concentration, and sensitivity to all relevant factors during the entire race (Cannon). A stimulant can also help a cyclist by allowing his body to produce more sweat and thereby release body heat and it causes the lungs to process more air to be sent to the blood (Cannon). However, a stimulant poses serious health risks to a cyclist, such as dangerous increase in body temperature and failure of the body to recognize overexertion, which could end in injury (Cannon). Stakeholders in this issue can be categorized into three: the event organizers and judges, the competitors themselves, and the public. Organizers and judges are interested in keeping their competitions clean in order to know who the real winners are. This will maintain public confidence in their competitions, which is the only way that the events would get supporters and followers. The competitors are interested in addressing this issue because it ruins their credibility as professional athletes. One allegation of cheating against one rider can ruin the reputation of all of them. Moreover, those who lose because they have been honest would lose their interest in the game or their trust in the event organizers. Finally, the public would want the real winner to be clean of drugs. This would mean that the winner was able to overcome the challenges through his own effort and without the help of performance enhancers. Ethically speaking, taking performance-enhancing drugs is nothing more than plain old cheating. It should never be countenanced lest it corrupt other riders who are still believing in honest competition. Everyone interested should stand guard against these kinds of cheating activities to ensure the integrity of the cycling sport. References BBC. (2006). Landis gives positive drugs test. Retrieved October 3, 2007, from http://news. bbc. co. uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/5221122. stm Cannon, M. The Physiological Effects of Two Cycling Drugs. Retrieved October 3, 2007, from indiana. edu/~phys215/lab/paper1. pdf Macur, J. (2006). 2 Ex-Teammates of Cycling Star Admit Drug Use. The New York Times. Retrieved October 3, 2007, from nytimes. com/2006/09/12/sports/othersports/12cycling. html? _r=1n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Topics%2FOrganizations% 2FU%2FUnited%20States%20Anti-Doping%20Agencyoref=slogin MSNBC. (2006). Landisbackup doping test also positive. Retrieved October 3, 2007, from msnbc. msn. com/id/14059185/