Drug Testing in Professional Sports

The use of drugs to enhance athletic				drove home the need for stronger efforts and
performance is not a new phenomenon. Even in				drug testing of athletes.
the earliest examples of the ancient Greek				The Creation of Steroids
Olympics were marred by reports of athletes				Stimulants posed a mild threat to athletic fairness
consuming foods, herbs, or other items believed				and health when compared to synthetic
to give them a great edge in their performances.				hormones, sometimes referred to as steroids,
Today, drug testing has become a hotly debated				were developed in the 1930s and quickly became
topic and has cost many athletes their titles,				a popular addition to the doping repertoire. In fact,
careers, and reputations.				just four years after Enemark's death, the use of
Early Examples of Drug Use				steroids was being reported at the Olympic
While steroids may be one of the most tested				Games in Tokyo.
for drugs among athletes today, the concept of				More Bans
"doping" actually involved many different				Between the mid and late 1960's, testing was
ingredients just a century or so ago. Back in the				being implemented by a number of sporting
1800s, cocoa leaves, caffeine, and even				associating, including FIFA. In 1967, the
strychnine were used by runners, cyclists, and				International Olympic Committee (IOC)
other athletes to increase their endurance and to				determined banned substances and established its
reduce fatigue. During the 1904 Olympic				own drug testing policy. Five years later, the IOC
marathon, the winner runner - a man named				would also ban anabolic steroids.
Thomas Hicks - actually used a combination of				As a result of the implement drug testing policies,
similar items to help win. Just a few short years				competitors were finally beginning to feel the
later, some agencies were calling for restrictions.				consequences of their refusal to adhere to the
Attempts to Stop the Problem				bans. In 1969, the first athlete was prohibited
The International Amateur Athletic Federations,				from competition because of drug use. That
also known as the IAAF, were the first sports				continued through the 1980's when athletes were
organization with an international reach to create a				banned from the Asian Games in Hiroshima and
ban of the use of any substance that would have				several Olympic athletes lost their medals after
a stimulating effect on an athlete during a				testing positive. One of these athletes, Ben
competition. Although they created their ban in				Johnson, had broken a world record for his 100
1928, no methods of drug testing were available				meter time.
so athletes could continue doping with impunity.				Other Professional Athletes
And they did. In 1952, the Oslo Winter Olympics				Although doping bans gained hold in the amateur
became notorious for the wide use of stimulants				sporting federations, they began to take hold in
by participants. At the Olympic games in Rome				the professional realm during the 1990s and have
just eight years later, Knud Enemark, a cyclist				received more attention about the recent
from Denmark, died after using amphetamines				scandals of massive steroid use in baseball.
for performance enhancement. His death finally