Perhaps it’s human nature to strive to be better in everything. I suppose that’s why athletes come up with elaborate ways to cheat in sports.
One of these ways is blood doping. Blood doping is the illicit practice of improving athletic performance by boosting the blood’s ability to carry more oxygen to the muscles. It increases hemoglobin’s oxygen carrying capacity, supplying more fuel to the athlete’s muscles. This gives the athlete more endurance and higher stamina. Blood doping is mainly used in long distance sports such as running, climbing and cycling. There are several ways to approach blood doping: blood transfusions, injection of erythropoietin (EPO), inhalation of noble gases, and injection of synthetic oxygen carriers.
Sounds efficient so far, right? Well, increasing the red blood cell count makes the blood sludgy, pushing the heart to work overtime. It also increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes due to more frequent, spontaneous blood clots. Even worse, blood doping can potentially multiply cancer cells. The result is death.
There are some pretty serious consequences associated with engaging in this illegal behavior. The biggest example is former seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong. We all know that he was banned from competitive cycling for life when he was unmasked as a serial blood doper in 2012. He has since been erased from Tour de France records by order of the U.S. Anti-doping Agency. There goes his reputation.
Despite the fact that blood doping is banned by the International Olympic Committee and other sports organizations, it continues to directly disadvantage athletes who don’t want to use it. What kind of position does that put them in? It just puts them in the mindset to either cheat or never be at the top. We need to educate people against the use, not to give up and say it’s fine just because it’s becoming more common.
Not only should athletes be screened before and after their sports events, but all individuals involved in the crime should also be penalized, including the athletes, their coaches and the medical professionals involved.
For example, a couple of athletes at the Sochi Olympics last winter such as biathlete Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle and William Frullani were expelled from the Sochi Olympics last winter for blood doping. The results of relay race Sachenbacher-Stehle had participated in had to be amended, and it was unfair to the rest of the participants that they weren’t caught before the game started.
Sports have become seriously demoralized. Whether it’s having the desire to win at all costs or believing that they’ll never get caught, athletes have no excuses for cheating, especially if it puts their own lives at risk. Sports have always been associated with health and they should remain that way.
