Testing And Penalties For Doping In Sport Should Be Stricter

Did you know that about 30% college and professional athletes use anabolic steroids that we know about, 20% of players in the National Football League (NFL), and there are 44 New Zealand athletes currently serving a suspension or ban on all sports. Statistics like these are the perfect reason for drug testing not only in New Zealand sport but in all sport should be raised to a higher level with more action taken to prevent players from taking away the morals of competitive sport and having an unfair advantage on honest players. That's why I believe that testing for doping in sport should be raised to a much higher level.

The usage of drugs in sport is wrong and because of it, the talent becomes fake and unfair on other non-drug using sports players. Take the 2012 Olympics, women's shot put finals for example, Belarusian shot putter Nadzeya Ostapchuk was briefly awarded the gold medal for women's shot put but was soon after stripped of her medal and disqualified after failing her drug test and the title and medal was given to New Zealand shot putter Valerie Adams, Valerie Adams later said that she was extremely underwhelmed about the way she received her gold medal and said “my gold medal moment was taken away from me.” This is an example of doping in sport becoming unfair on other athletes. It was later reported that her coach had put methenolone in her coffee unbeknown to her and served a one year ban afterward. Lance Armstrong, one of cycling's most remembered greats that is up until 2013 when being interviewed by Oprah Winfrey, admitted to using anabolic steroids at the time of his seven Tour de France victories resulting in him being stripped of all of his Tour De France and Olympic medals and being banned from the sport for life. The consequences around doping in sport are cruel, but is it enough?

Consequences for this violation include; a disqualification at the event as well as forfeiture of medals, a ban from all sport for up to 4 years in the more serious cases or repeating to use banned substances, fines as well as mass media publication on the athlete's offense. The way social media is used nowadays players would receive a huge amount of media attention that can permanently damage their career and reputation, news articles, Facebook and Instagram posts and news outlets will all report on the players doping. I believe that stronger financial penalties should be brought into play as athletes who have been found guilty of doping in the past have typically only been banned from the sport for anywhere between 1-4 years whereas if a financial penalty had been brought into play, athletes and/or their coaches may have thought twice to dope resulting in a ban and now, a fine. This could even benefit the ones in charge of advertising New Zealand's drug-free sport policy and result in fewer players being banned from the sport.

Another form of doping is a process called blood doping or blood transfusion. An athlete will draw oxygenated blood from their body and later re-inject it back into their blood flow which boosts red blood cell concentration in order to enhance the athlete's performance. One of the biggest problems surrounding blood doping is that it cannot be tested for therefore athletes who do so can’t be caught for this and will have an advantage over other athletes. The process can be very dangerous and can lead to deadly heart diseases as well as strokes and cerebral or pulmonary embolism (blood clots in the heart). This is yet another of doping in sport destroying the moral idea of sport, so much that athletes but their own life and health on the line just for that one medal or title. But what if doping was legal? Would sport be played at a much higher level with double the entertainment that before? Would fans support drugged up lab rats running around a field?

Personally, I think it would send a terrible message to youth, it would be saying it's perfectly okay to inject your body with whatever and chemically enhance your body. Think about all the young kids who look up to athletes, for me it was Richie McCaw but somehow I couldn't imagine him running around the field with an extra 100 kg of muscle. I personally believe that sport will become plain and boring, all players and teams would be evenly matched and would become pointless to watch and, Russia would finally receive their first legit Olympic medal. These drugs and methods aren't even legal outside the sporting world so, I can confidently say that doping in sport will never be legal, in the near future at least.