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Sports and drugs
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Sports and drugs Infographic about the ancient Olympic Games featuring stylized illustrations of athletes competing in discus, long jump, javelin, equestrian events, running events, boxing, wrestling, and pankration. Each sport is labeled with a brief description, and a central text box explains the origins and evolution of the Games in Olympia, Greece. Oscar Pistorius of South Africa runs on blade prosthetics during the Men's 200m T44 Final at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, wearing a yellow and green uniform. Techno-doping The Olympic flag.
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Sports and drugs

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Discussion questions

  1. Should PEDs be allowed in sports? Why or why not?
  2. Should performance-enhancing technologies be allowed in sports? Why or why not?
  3. How would you regulate performance-enhancing drugs and technologies if you were in charge of a sports organization? Explain your answers.
  4. What questions do you have after reading the debate above? Where might you find answers?
  5. What was the most interesting thing you learned from this debate?
  6. Consider how you felt about the issue before reading this article. After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? How and why?. If your thoughts have not changed, explain how and why you better understand the other side of the debate.
  7. Push for the position and policies you support by writing local officials, U.S. senators and representatives, or other people in a position to make the change you champion.

Sources

  1. Kristina Rutherford, “Olympics: Winning Isn’t Everything” (November 22, 2012), sportsnet.ca
  2. Sally Jenkins, “Winning, Cheating Have Ancient Roots” (August 3, 2007), washingtonpost.com
  3. Nick Busca, “Should Athletes Be Allowed to Enhance Their Genes?” (April 29, 2019), onezero.medium.com
  4. Sam Moxon, “Gene Doping: The Next ‘Big Issue’ in World Athletics” (March 23, 2021), geneticliteracyproject.org
  5. Michael LePage, “Anti-Doping Agency to Ban All Gene Editing in Sport from 2018” (October 9, 2017), newscientist.com
  6. Alex Pearlman, “The Case for More Doping in the Olympics” (March 11, 2021), neo.life
  7. Matt Glover, “The Case for PEDs, and a More Fair Sporting World” (February 10, 2022), themacweekly.com
  8. Torbjörn TĂ€nnsjö, “Let Athletes Dope: A Moral Case” (September 10, 2015), bostonglobe.com
  9. Garrett S. Bullock, et al., “Temporal Trends in Incidence of Time-Loss Injuries in Four Male Professional North American Sports over 13 Seasons” (April 15, 2021), Scientific Reports, nature.com
  10. Erik Thorell, “Are Women Athletes More Susceptible to Injury?” (May 19, 2015), pennmedicine.org
  11. Alexander E. Weber, et al., “Anabolic Androgenic Steroids in Orthopaedic Surgery: Current Concepts and Clinical Applications” (January 6, 2022), Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Global Research and Reviews, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
  12. J. M. Beiner, et al., “The Effect of Anabolic Steroids and Corticosteroids on Healing of Muscle Contusion Injury” (January-February 1999), American Journal of Sports Medicine, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
  13. Kylie Urban, “Some Olympic Doping Drugs May Have Legitimate Medical Uses” (August 2, 2016), michiganmedicine.org
  14. Phillip Huynh, “Speeding Up the Injury Recovery Process” (October 4, 2023), clmr.unsw.edu.au
  15. John William Devine, “The Enhanced Games: Letting Athletes Use Drugs Could Lead to Worse Problems than Cheating” (July 11, 2023), theconversation.com
  16. Maeve Juday, “To Dope, or Not to Dope?” (February 15, 2018), swarthmorephoenix.com
  17. Julian Savulescu, Bennett Foddy, and M. Clayton, “Why We Should Allow Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sport” (November 23, 2004), British Journal of Sports Medicine, bjsm.bmj.com
  18. Fabian Filipp, “Is Science Killing Sport? Gene Therapy and Its Possible Abuse in Doping” (May 2007), EMBO Reports, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
  19. World Anti-Doping Agency, “WADA Ethics Panel: Guiding Values in Sport and Anti-Doping” (October 2017), wada-ama.org
  20. Christopher Matthews, “Doping Cheats Athletes of Glory — and Big Paydays” (September 20, 2017), axios.com
  21. Bonnie Berkowitz and William Neff, “What Bodybuilders Do to Their Bodies — and Brains” (December 8, 2022), washingtonpost.com
  22. Derek Hall, “Arnold Schwarzenegger Says Open Bodybuilding Is ‘Dangerous,’ Classic Physique Is the Future” (September 28, 2021), fitnessvolt.com
  23. Kara Rogers, “Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy” (September 29, 2023), britannica.com
  24. Will Carroll, “Little-Known PED, Blamed in Player’s Death, Is Major Threat to Anti-Doping Fight” (May 7, 2013), bleacherreport.com
  25. Adam R. Nicholls, et al., “Children’s First Experience of Taking Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids Can Occur before Their 10th Birthday: A Systematic Review Identifying 9 Factors That Predicted Doping among Young People” (June 20, 2017), Frontiers in Psychology, frontiersin.org
  26. Sport Integrity Australia, “The Worrying Trend of Steroid Use in Young Adults” (May 26 2023), sportintegrity.gov.au
  27. Teddy Bridgewater (July 18, 2022), instagram.com
  28. Australian Academy of Science “Stimulants in Sport” (accessed on April 19, 2021), science.org.au
  29. Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA), “2008 Anti-Doping Handbook” (2008), sportintegrity.gov.au
  30. Nick Busca, “Should Athletes Be Allowed to Enhance Their Genes?” (April 29, 2019), onezero.medium.com
  31. Daniel J. DeNoon, “Why Steroids Are Bad for You” (March 16, 2005), webmd.com
  32. William D. Knopp, “Ergogenic Drugs in Sports” (July 1997), Clinics in Sports Medicine
  33. Maryville University, “Understanding and Preventing Steroid Abuse in Sports” (April 14, 2021), online.maryville.edu
  34. Mayo Clinic, “Performance-Enhancing Drugs: Know the Risks” (December 4, 2020), mayoclinic.org
  35. David R. Mottram (2003), Drugs in Sport
  36. Elizabeth Quinn, “Erythropoietin (EPO) and Blood Doping in Sports” (March 26, 2020), verywellfit.com
  37. Jennifer Robinson “What Are Glucocorticoids?” (May 30, 2019), webmd.com
  38. U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), “Guide to Prohibited Substances and Prohibited Methods of Doping” (December 2007), usada.org
  39. USADA, “Growth Hormone in Sport: What Athletes Should Know” (February 13, 2019), usada.org
  40. WebMD, “Anabolic Steroids” (accessed April 9, 2021), webmd.com
  41. Wikipedia, “Doping at the Olympic Games” (accessed January 26, 2026), wikipedia.org
  42. Michael S. Schmidt and Tariq Panja, “U.S. Funding Dispute with World Anti-Doping Agency Boils Over” (January 8, 2025), nytimes.com
  43. Michael S. Schmidt and Tariq Panja, “Top Chinese Swimmers Tested Positive for Banned Drug, Then Won Olympic Gold” (April 21, 2024), nytimes.com
  44. Alice Park, “What to Know about the Chinese Swimming Doping Scandal” (July 31, 2024), time.com
  45. AP, “Tennis’ Top-Ranked Jannik Sinner Gets a 3-Month Ban in Doping Case Settlement” (February 15, 2025), npr.org
  46. Matthre Futterman, “How Norway’s Ski Jumping Scandal Rocked a Proud Nation and Bedrock Olympic Sport” (January 20, 2026), nytimes.com
  47. Associated Press, “Seven Athletes Caught Doping in New Tests From ‘16 Olympics” (January 22, 2026), espn.com
  48. Associated Press, “Croatian Tennis Player Jana Fett Suspended Under Anti-Doping Program” (January 23, 2026), sports.yahoo.com
  49. Karel Janicek and the Associated Press, “Ota Zaremba, 1980 Olympic Weightlifting Champion Who Spoke Out About Doping, Dies at 68’ (January 24, 2026), journalgazette.net
  50. Enhanced Games (accessed January 26, 2026), enhanced.com
  51. Jessica Hopkins, “World Aquatics Bans Athletes Who Participate in Enhanced Games” (June 4, 2025), nytimes.com