Doping in Sports

Abstract

“Doping” refers to an athlete’s use of prohibited drugs or methods to improve training and sporting results. Steroids are the drugs that often come to mind when we talk about doping, but doping also includes on athlete’s use of other forbidden drugs (such as stimulants, hormones, diuretics, narcotics and marijuana), use of forbidden methods (such as blood transfusion or gene doping) and even the refusal to take a drug test or an attempt to temper with doping controls. The three widely used types of blood doping are: • Blood transfusion • Injection of erythroprotein • Injection of synthetic oxygen carriers. Doping is defined by the IOC as the use of any method or substance that might harm the athlete, in a quest to gain an unfair advantage over his or her fellow competitors. The drugs used in doping often have detrimental effects to one’s health both mental and physical. In the short run these drugs improve one’s performance, but in the long run they can kill.