A shadow was cast over the Summer Olympics when the Russian track and field team was banned from competition, and it lingered throughout the games.
Australian swimmer Mack Horton called Chinese swimmer Sun Yang a “drug cheat” after preliminaries for the 400-meter free style. Horton eventually won the 400-meter final over Yang, who had served a three-month suspension in 2014 after testing positive for a banned substance.
Days later, American swimmer Lilly King denounced Russian swimmer Yulia Efimova for being caught cheating twice.
“You’re shaking your finger ‘No. 1’ and you’ve been caught for drug cheating,” King said after the 100-meter breaststroke prelims. “I’m not a fan.”
Like several other athletes who have previously served performance enhancing drug suspensions, Efimova was booed before competitions.
“It’s unfortunate that that’s going on in the sport right now, but that was her decision and [boos] are what’s going to happen,” King said.
But the boos followed Russians who had never been caught using PEDs. Fans booed Russian boxer Evgeny Tishchenko and fencer Timur Safin before their competitions.
That’s because people are upset that the International Olympic Committee did not ban all Russian athletes from competing at the games after the World Anti-Doping Agency published a report that revealed widespread cover-ups and tampering in the Russian drug testing system.
Two major Russian drug testing labs protected athletes who tested positive for performance enhancing drugs by either swapping their samples or destroying them. The Russian Ministry of Sport also oversaw the manipulation of Russian athletes’ drug tests, according to the WADA report.
Performance enhancing drugs are banned from sports because they give athletes an unfair, unnatural advantage over competitors. They’re dangerous and can lead to long-term health problems.
The Benefits and Risks of Performance Enhancing Drugs
Performance enhancing drugs are substances that improve physical activity, and doping refers to the use of banned substances by athletes. Many PEDs are incorrectly referred to as steroids, which grew in popularity in the 1980s and ‘90s before drug testing techniques improved.
Currently five categories of substances are banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Each type of substance affects the body differently.
Anabolic Steroids
Anabolic steroids include testosterone, drugs that increase testosterone production and drugs that act like testosterone in the body. They’re the most commonly abused drugs in sports.
Benefits and risks of anabolic steroids:
- Benefits:
- Steroids increase an athlete’s ability to build muscle, perform intense training and recover from training.
- Risks:
- In men, steroids cause reduced sperm count, pain while urinating and heart damage. Long-term abuse can lead to addiction, liver disease, testicle shrinkage and breast development. In women, steroids reduce breast size and cause rapid hair growth. They can disrupt menstrual cycles and deepen the voice. Both sexes are at an increased risk of heart attack, high blood pressure and stroke.
Growth Hormones, Growth Factors and Mimetics
Human growth hormones, growth factors and mimetics became popular in the 1980s and ‘90s because they were hard to detect. Today, they’re less popular because there is no evidence that they improve athletic performance, and they can be detected in drug tests. They’re most commonly used in combination with other PEDs or to boost recovery from injuries.
Benefits and risks of growth hormones:
- Benefits:
- Supposedly, growth hormones increase muscle mass and the body’s ability to recover from workouts. However, studies have not confirmed the benefits.
- Risks:
- Artificial growth hormones can cause high blood pressure, heart disease, symptoms of arthritis and diabetes.
Beta-2 Agonists
Beta-2 agonists are common medications used to treat asthma. In high doses, the drugs can promote weight gain and increase muscle mass.
Benefits and risks of beta-2 agonists:
- Benefits:
- Beta-2 agonists have the potential to increase muscle mass and weight in high doses, but studies have not confirmed the benefits.
- Risks:
- Beta-2 agonists can cause increased heart rate, tremors and anxiety.
Hormone and Metabolic Modulators
Hormone and metabolic modulators, also called anti-estrogens, are used to prevent breast development in men who use steroids. They can also increase testosterone levels.
Benefits and risks of hormone and metabolic mudulators:
- Benefits:
- In men, hormone and metabolic modulators prevent gynecomastia (breast development). In men and women, the drugs increase testosterone which increases the ability to build muscle, train and recover from training.
- Risks:
- Hormone and metabolic modulators can cause hot flushes, gastrointestinal disorders and life-threatening blood clots.
Masking Agents and Diuretics
To beat drug tests, scientists developed masking agents that prevent other illegal substances from being detected. Some masking agents work by preventing PEDs from appearing in urine tests, and others work by hiding drugs in the blood. Diuretics are used to increase urine production and dilute drugs in urine tests.
Benefits and risks of masking agents and diuretics:
- Benefits:
- Masking agents and diuretics allow athletes who use performance enhancing drugs to pass some drug tests.
- Risks:
- Diuretics can cause dangerous weight loss, rapid heartbeat, dizziness and low blood pressure. Other masking agents can cause nausea, kidney stones, hair loss and a severe allergic reaction called anaphylactic shock.
Blood Doping
Blood doping refers to the process of removing blood months before a competition and re-infusing it before the competition. As a result of increased blood count, muscles are able to receive more oxygen during competition. Drugs such as erythropoietin increase the body’s ability to create red blood cells.
Benefits and risks of blood doping:
- Benefits:
- Blood doping can dramatically increase endurance, delaying fatigue and allowing the body to produce more energy.
- Risks:
- Increased blood cells cause the heart to work harder to pump blood. This strain on the heart can lead to a heart attack, blood clots and stroke.
Gene Doping
Gene doping refers to the process of modifying a gene and adding it to cells to increase protein levels. There is no test for gene doping, and there is no evidence that it has been used in athletic competitions.
Benefits and risks of gene doping:
- Benefits:
- Gene doping has the potential to improve athletic performance, but there is no proof that it does.
- Risks:
- Introducing a foreign gene into the body comes with life-threatening risks. The body’s immune system could attack the gene, leading to a genetic disease, cancer and death.
Are PEDs Addictive?
Heroin addiction, alcohol addiction, and addiction to cocaine are all referred to as a disease. Those drugs cause changes in the brain that lead to physical cravings and withdrawal symptoms. The changes cause repeated self-damaging behavior despite knowledge of the consequences.
Steroid addiction also causes repeated self-damaging behavior. Users may increase their self-esteem or athletic ability, but they suffer noticeable consequences such as acne, headaches and insomnia. Their relationships suffer because of increased aggression called “roid rage.”
People who use steroids also suffer withdrawal symptoms such as mood swings, fatigue, reduced sex drive and cravings when they stop using the drugs.
All performance-enhancing drugs and masking agents have addictive potential because athletes use them despite knowing the risks. Their desire to become faster and stronger can cause them to take additional risks despite negative consequences.
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