Earning a world record is the pinnacle of achievement of athletics. No championship or gold medal could ever compare to the honor of holding a world record; however, some athletes may now have their names expunged from the history books and have their world records taken away. According to the British Broadcasting Corporation, United Kingdom Athletics recently published “A Manifesto for Clean Athletics” and has proposed to reset all current world records in track and field in response to the ongoing doping crisis.
Doping includes, but is not limited to, the use of steroids, blood transfusions and the misuse of insulin. Types of doping, such as blood doping, which increases the amount of oxygen that an individual’s blood is able to carry to their muscles, gives athletes an unfair physical advantage and can result in an unearned victory.
Russia’s recent ban from all international sporting events by the International Association of Athletics Federations for a state-sponsored doping program has reignited concern for doping in international sports competitions. A number of athletes who have held world records used various forms of doping in order to gain a competitive edge. Therefore, British Athletics has proposed a radical reform in which all current track and field world records will be erased in an effort to punish those who participate in doping and ring in a “new era of clean competition,” according to BBC. But there is one major flaw in the UK’s plan: it will punish athletes who achieved their world record while clean.
If put into effect, athletes such as Usain Bolt, Tyson Gay and Paula Radcliffe, all of whom earned their world records without the aid of doping, would lose their world records. The IAAF does need to consider ways to discourage doping and other forms of cheating in athletics, but punishing every athlete is not the way to go. The World Anti-Doping Agency should review all previous drug tests, discern which athletes have participated in doping and then take appropriate action against those athletes who are guilty of any type of doping. The athletes who are guilty should be stripped of their world records, and the world record should be awarded to the next fastest time or distance recorded, as opposed to being completely reset.
The WADA and IAAF should be stricter with their drug testing and have a transparent policy with all testing records. If all of their records are made available to the public, there can be fewer discrepancies and will ensure that athletes found doping will no longer be allowed to compete or qualify for world records.
It’s exciting to see that UK Athletics is taking a stance against the current doping crisis, especially in the sport of track and field, but their current plans for reform are too radical and will punish all athletes, instead of just those who are found cheating. There is definitely a lot of work to be done to instill a sense of integrity in athletes and ensure that no one has an unfair advantage, but resetting every track and field record is counterproductive. Athletes need to be shown that the honor of a world record can only be achieved through hard work and practice, not doping.
