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Top 6 Doping Scandals in Sports
Back then, a few ancient Greeks would use figs, mushrooms, and even worse donkey's nails as they believed it increase their athletic performance. In 1807, British marathon athletes have taken laudanum which is a tincture of opium and it contains some morphine to make the athletes stay up all night fresh before the game starts.
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There are even athletes who took it to the next level as in the Olympics of 1903, the person drank a mixture of strychnine(alkaloid crystal used in pesticides), raw eggs, and brandy. The good news is that the athlete won the race but the same thing cannot be said about his health.
Later in 1930, an English football club proudly served an extract of a monkey's gland to their players. However, over recent years, the use of steroids and other hormones has been increasing tremendously, especially in sports and fitness.
Here is the list of the top 6 doping scandals that definitely change how we view sports.
1. Bike athlete, Tom Simpson passed away after Tour de France
But later on, it was found that an amphetamine tube was on his jersey and an autopsy revealed that there has been traces of the amphetamines inside his body. An official report states that the drug used by Simpson was to stimulate him into working extra hard to extent that he dehydrated to death.
Simpson dying has opened the eyes of the Union Cycliste Internationale to how serious the case is and they decided to ban the use of drugs that act as a stimulant in cycling.
2. Western German Government forcing athletes to use steroid
The German athletes started to notice the change in their bodies however they did not have much of a choice but to only obey the supreme ruler of Western Germany. In fact, one of them even mentions either eating the pill or simply dying.
In the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, the German women's swimmer team won 11 gold out of 13 medals that were contested. This contributed to the country's overall 40 gold in total.
Competitors and the crowds started to suspect that the German team have been using steroids but the resources of the country have been used to close the eyes of the world to their doping program.
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It was believed that at least 9000 athletes were given the stimulant drug to increase their performance. After the unity of Germany in 1990, those responsible for the doping program has been faced a court and immediately was found guilty.
Unfortunately, this does not change the fact that most German athletes experience health problem throughout their life which includes heart problems, infertility, and also cancer.
3. Track star Ben Johnson positive for steroid
Things did not stop there as later Johnson tested positive for stanozolol steroid and consequently, the medal that he won was forced to be returned and given to Lewis. Johnson received many sponsorships and endorsement deals but it all goes down the drain when he was caught using drugs.
The fall of Johnson has opened the eyes of the world regarding doping which was seen before as a communist problem when in reality it will definitely involve anyone who seeks the desire to win any title or championship.
4. Diego Maradona was banned from the World Cup
Despite being barred from playing for 15 months between 1991 and 1992 due to the use of cocaine, Maradona came back stronger with a perfect and ideal body as he lost almost 12kg.
But it seems that Maradona simply did not learn his lesson and was later caught positive for drug use and was permanently banned from ever partaking in the World Cup.
His career as a football player went into shambles but despite that, he still continues playing for several years but not under the Argentinian flag.
5. Lance Armstrong lost the Tour de France title
Despite all the questions and concerns that were raised about him abusing drugs to increase his athletic performance, no persecution was made. But things turn south for Armstrong as his own team, Floyd Landis who previously was involved in a drug scandal accused Armstrong of taking drugs.
In 2012, the American Anti-Doping Agency make claimed of Armstrong used drugs to enhance his performance. But surprisingly Armstrong did not counter this claim which resulted in him losing the Tour de France title as well barred from entering any cycling competition.
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The agency issued an official report in October 2012 which states that Armstrong is a part of the most sophisticated and professional"doping program" that the world has ever seen.
It was later in 2013 that Armstrong finally admits to Oprah Winfrey about his involvement in doping to win Tour de France. It really does seem fishy when he's managed to win the tournament 5 times straight in a row.
6. Russia was banned from the Olympics
He also explained regarding the cover-up involving the secret service utilizing tamper-proof bottles to replace the urine of the Russian athletes with something that will come out negative in its results.
After this reveal, the World Anti-Doping Agency conducted a thorough investigation and found that more than 1000 Russian athletes succumbed to probably the biggest doping program in history fully sponsored by the government between 2011 and 2015.
With that, the World Anti-Doping Agency has decided to impose a 4-year ban on Russia from participating in the Olympics and other sports championships. This punishment however was then reduced to 2 years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Athletes from Russia were able to partake in Olympics 2021 but not under the Russian flag or their national anthem. Due to that, you will see that Russia is not on the list of the Tokyo Olympics that just happen but instead they are competing as ROC or Russian Olympic Committee.
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