Sport & PEP's

Incidences with the use of PEP:

The Nike Project technology was designed to help elite distance runners to improve their performance (tracktownusa.com, 2014).  In 2001, Nike Executive Alberto Salazar developed the Nike House which was a house created to mock a high altitude atmospheres that would allow elite runners to be acclimated to the climate and have the ability to train at lower altitude.  Research has been collected around theory that if a distance runner  “Lives High, Trains Low” they are more likely to deliver the best race results (tracktownusa.com, 2014).  Another reason why the Nike house was created was because Salazar thought that distance runners who are from the African countries have an advantage because they carry higher counts of red blood cells and as a result their bodies have a different relationship with oxygen in which Americans do not have that (tracktownusa.com, 2014).  And Because of these reasons, the five-bedroom 3,000 square-foot bungalow that assimilates altitudes 9,000 to 14,000 feet was created to give American elite distance runners a fair chance to compete (tracktownusa.com, 2014).  And with much success the Nike Project has created a team of top-notch distance runners such as Mo Farah who after began training at the Nike House won two gold medals in 2012 (Oregon Project, 2014).

Twelve years ago Alain Baxter, was Britain’s first Winter Olympic Medalist to receive the Bronze medal in the slalom in Salt Lake City, Utah (Thompson, 2014).  After all his hard work and achievements Baxter was erased from the history books due to failing a drug test (Thompson, 2014). Baxter tested positive for methamphetamine, which was ingested by an over-the-counter Vicks nasal inhaler (Thompson, 2014).  Even though the amount of methamphetamine in his body was not significant enough to enhance his performance the International Olympic Committee continued to reinforce their liability rule that all athletes are one hundred percent responsible for what they ingest in their bodies (Thompson, 2014).

The Court of Arbitration for Sport by the British Olympic Association supported Baxter’s appeal however their support was not enough to help get Baxter’s medal back.

Another similar story like Alain Baxter, all-around gold medal gymnast Andreea Raducan from Romania was striped from her medals because of a failed drug test (Zanca, 2000).  The sixteen year old gymnast took two cold medicine pills that she received from the team doctor which lead her to be suspend through the 2002 winter games in Salt Lake and the 2004 summer games in Athens (Zanca, 2000). The cold medicine contained pseudoephidrene and because of her petite size she tested positive for one the banned stimulants on the IOC’s banned list (Zanca, 2000).  Yet again another innocent athlete was punished for taking a supplement to help decrease typical cold/flu symptoms. 

Level Playing Field:

When looking at these incidences of the use of performance enhancement practices at face value seem like harmless practices. However the issue that becomes problematic in these cases is the conflicting values between the governing bodies associated with the elite level of sports and the athletes themselves and the power that these governing bodies have over the athletes. In both cases of the failed drug tests by Alain Baxter and Andreea Raducan both athletes were innocently trying to get rid of an illness however, The IOC did not find that a good enough excuse to appeal their case and allow them to redeem their medals. The IOC holds a significant amount of power when it comes to making decisions around issues of this sort leaving no chance for athletes to prove their innocence. In these two cases it was clear that the governing bodies have strong values towards the use of drugs, and even though the drugs that the athletes used could not significantly enhance their performance it didn’t matter.  

 However if looking at the first performance enhanced practice mentioned, of the Nike House it is seen as acceptable for athletes to use this technology to help them develop and become better athletes. Because of the dynamic growth of knowledge and technology the sport figuration is engaging in, it has become more challenging to prove that these practices are enhancing athletes performances more efficiently than taking drugs. One aspect, which makes it difficult to prove that these types of technology practices do enhance an athlete’s performance, is because there is limited money and knowledge to create a test to ban such technology and performance practices.  Because of the dynamic growth of knowledge around such technologies it will be very difficult to have that true human athlete. Fans and spectators of sport thrive to see the athletes who break records and make diving catches to save a perfect game. And because of those demands innovators are going to continue to research to develop the best performance enhancing practices to produce the best athletes.

References:

Track Town USA. (2014). Nike Oregon Project. Retrieved 18th April, 2014, from http://www.tracktownusa.com/track.item.5/the-oregon-project.html.

Oregon Project (2014). Oregon Project: Project. Retrieved 17th April, 2014, from http://nikeoregonproject.com/

Thompson, A. (2014). Sochi 2014: Alain Baxter on winning & losing Olympic bronze. Retrieved 18th April, 2014, from http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/winter-olympics/26156603.

Zanca, S. (2000). Romanian Gymnast Loses Gold Medal. Retrieved 18th April, 2014, from http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/story?id=100424.