Beijing Blast Number Two - Top Five Reasons Olympic Athletes Take Drugs

By Wayne Goldsmith | In Beijing Blast

They don’t call it Doping for nothing - because only DOPES do it.

With the overnight announcement of the IAAF banning of several of Russia’s leading female distance runners - including current and previous world champions - let’s have a look at the top five reasons why Olympic Athletes take drugs.

Top reason number one -  they are imbeciles.

Top reason number two - they believe they need to take drugs to win because they have doubts in their own ability. This topic is another post in itself. Athletes who have such a lack in their abilities that they need to resort to taking drugs need to take a serious look at their self confidence, their mental health, their training and preparation, their coaching and many other factors.

Taking drugs is easy. Couple of pills, a few injections…it’s easy. Working on yourself to ensure you have a “bulletproof” sense of self confidence, self esteem and self belief……..that’s a life’s work. It’s really tough to develop a resilient, strong sense of self belief - one that will remain steadfast under pressure and withstand the pain and stress of set backs, injury and poor performances.

And that’s why so many take the easy route!

Top reason number three - they believe everyone else is taking drugs and the only way they can compete is to also take drugs. This may be true - maybe all their competitors are taking drugs. But to give in and take them yourself and justify it by the behaviour of others shows a total lack of values, virtues, confidence and character.

In all probability, athletes who use the “peer group pressure” excuse were never going to make it to the top as athletes anyway as their resilience and resistance to external influence is so frail.

Top reason number four - they want to win! They knowingly and happily take drugs to help them win so they can enjoy the fame, glory and money that comes with success at the highest level.

These athletes are - cheats. And liars. And in some cases criminals. And imbeciles.

They get caught and what do they do? They look for excuses. They blame the system. They blame their coach. They blame the pressure they felt to perform. They look for holes in the detection system for their legal team to exploit. They lie, they cheat, they blame, they break laws……

The worst thing they do is to send the message to kids that cheating is fine…..it’s only getting caught that’s the problem. 

They teach kids that if you get caught - never, ever confess and face the consequences.

They are telling kids do the wrong thing, then deny responsibility.

Look at Marion Jones. She only confessed when there was no way out and she was about to be exposed. She repeatedly denied taking drugs and enjoyed the money and fame and success she got after winning Gold in Sydney.

She sent the message to kids that it is ok to do whatever it takes to win, deny everything if you get caught, lie, cheat and then at the last minute beg for forgiveness when you have no way out.

And that’s far more criminal than sticking a needle in your arm and chewing down a few tablets.

Top reason number five - they took the wrong advice - usually from someone they respect and admire.

This is a bit like getting pregnant - there are two people involved:

The person giving the advice to take drugs - particularly if they are a coach or someone in a similar position of respect and authority is akin to a child molester. They have abused a position of power, taken advantage of a vulnerable - usually younger person / teenager and done it for their own gain.  

 The person accepting the advice to take drugs - ultimately, every person is responsible for their own actions and behaviours. However, this is a complex issue. Often young athletes put their total trust and faith in a coach or manager or sports scientist (support team). The athlete believes the motivation of their support team is to help them succeed and to realise their full athletic potential. And as such they are vulnerable to influence of the support team and will often blindly follow their advice and recommendations.

They key here again is self belief and self confidence. An athlete can have faith in his / her support team but still have enough faith in themselves to feel confident about challenging and questioning them.

There is no easy solution to the drugs in sport issue. With our increased knowledge of genetics and the potential for gene manipulation, the issue will only get more complex and tougher to manage.

It has been said, “the price of freedom is eternal vigilance”.

The price of drug free sport is to never give up trying catching the cheats no matter how tough the challenge may seem.

Chances are, unfortunately, this will not be the last drug scandal to rock these Olympics………………and that DO-PING may be seen as the sister city to BEI-JING!

 

Wayne Goldsmith

August 2, 2008

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