Write An Essay On Doping In Sports Supported By Articles (Essay Sample)

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Doping in Sports
One of the greatest issues in the sports and health sector is the legal and illegal supplements that the circulate these two industries. Athletes take supplements to boost their bodies for improved performance while participating in any of the sports. There is, however, a line that divides which of the supplements are acceptable, and which are illegal. Currently, different professional sporting disciplines conduct tests of the athletes participating in the sports to crack down the whip on illegal supplements, performance enhancing drugs, and steroids. This is because of the improved doping cases around the world as athletes strive to be better that their competitors by boosting performance using these drugs. The use of performance enhancing drugs raises issues related to ethics in sports, and health related problems. A different group of people believes that a person should do what they please with their body. That if the rest of the athletes used performance-enhancing drugs, then everyone would be at the same place. However, athletes should not take performance enhancing drugs due to the health risks. The human body is strong and able to perform well under supervised and disciplined training, and the drugs should only be used if prescribed by the doctor.
Different people hold the opinion that performance enhancing drugs, and other forms of supplements should be made legal for use in sporting disciplines and also for private use. People use performance-enhancing drugs to improve their success in various sports competitions. According to Ghobain et. Al. (1), people have used prohibited substances to improve their performance for decades. The main argument for this kind of behavior is that since these people know the risks involved in taking the performance enhancing drugs, then they take the drugs knowing what will happen to them and are good with it. It is also their perception that if illegal steroids were made legal, and the rest of the people were allowed to use these supplements and drugs, then everyone would be at an equal place. According to Klein (1198), athletes who use drugs have no morals inn competition, and as a result end up cheating. This means that they do not present their competitors with an equal platform for competition. Therefore, the drive for doping has been forced by the desire to outperform competitors and be winners. Using performance enhancing drugs would be acceptable if serious issues related to health did not accompany this use but due to these issues, then doping should not be accepted.
That said, doping gives the users an unfair advantage over the rest of the athletes. Doping also presents the users of the supplements with a variety of health risks, unless the supplements are prescribed by the doctor. When put in disciplined training, the body can improve its performance to competitive levels. Over past few years, the effect of different doping agents has been observed in the sporting sector. One of the commonly used bodies enhancers is anabolic steroids. These steroids have several health effects including changes in cholesterol level, acne, liver damage, and even high blood pressure (Kanayama, Hudson, & Pope). According to Alexander (1990), doping is what was attributed to the near-collapse of the 1998 Tour de France. These are some of the health effects associated with repetitive steroid users. The rest of the performance enhancers also have several health effects hence the reason why they are illegal. Health officials should accept that these drugs have a huge effect on health and unless there is a better alternative in the form of body enhancers without any form of side effect, then doping should remain illegal. However, if no athlete used any performance enhancement drugs, then these drugs would not be in the market in the first place. Athletes should compete based on the stamina and performance of their natural bodies instead of using performance enhancers to put them in the competition.
As a result of the health effects attributed to these drugs, then training and other supplements should be used to boost performance as opposed to using illegal drugs. All the government and international agencies involved should increase the awareness of the effects that taking steroids has on the people taking the drugs. Additionally, these agencies should give the athletes with what works well instead of using illegal drugs to boost performance. To make this a reality, all black-market steroids need to be cut down, and a provision of safer supplements which be marketed and made available to the athletes (USADA). These safer alternatives can be made available in gyms or training centers for the athletes to use. To achieve this, then different stakeholders need to come together and develop such a substance. It should test and retested to ensure that it is safe without severe health effects.
In conclusion, people should have to an equal competing platform as opposed to other people having a bet...