Doping is a major problem in sports these days. With the Beijing Olympics on-going, we will certainly witness new evidence of illegal substance use by athletes. What is worst, this could only be the tip of the iceberg. The reason is that the rate of developing new enhancement substances is likely to be higher than the development of the means of control and testing.
Certainly, the Olympic spirit should be kept. This means that there should be sports events where only the genuine athletic capabilities should be displayed. But I think that there should be an alternative series of events where all kind of enhancement drugs should be allowed, except maybe those with proven high toxicity levels. After all, chemical compounds are part of our daily life. Not everyone can use them. Just a fortunate few can tremendously benefit from them. It is part of the evolution. It should be clear by now that evolution means accepting new challenges, even in the form of chemical compounds.
Of course, the spirit of the games requires that one should not have a competitive edge that is not accessible to others. But as long as every athlete is allowed to use whatever suits him best, and he is aware of the situation I think it is a fair game. The flip side of the coin is the eventual health hazards for the athletes. But this is also part of the game. After all, conventional training might not be all that healthier either. It will be up to the athlete to decide how much to push its limits.
Along the same line of thoughts, maybe a discussion of what kind of apparel should be allowed for use in certain disciplines would be necessary very soon. Certainly, a number of sports depend crucially of the quality of the gear the human body needs in order to perform that specific sport, for example tennis or skiing. In other sports, the distinction between what is really needed and what is used precisely to expand the natural range of human capabilities is less clear. The obvious example is swimming: since the introduction of the new swimming suits (Speedo is one leading brand), world records fall one after another. It is clear these high-tech suits changed the name of the game. Who would dare not to use them, while maintaining hopes for a good result? The use of these new materials is commonly accepted, but what if you have an outstanding swimmer who happens to have a severe allergy to the fabric of these new swimming suits? What then? Even more, as research for new technologies evolves, it is likely that devices like artificially engineered red cells would be common place. These are deemed to be ten times more efficient at transporting oxygen than their organic counterpart. If there are no side-effects what-so-ever, should they be used or forbidden?
I say: let the athletes decide and make the alternative Olympics of dopes a reality, and who knows, it might be a whole lot of new kind of fun. Even more, maybe then we will finally be able to enjoy traditionally drug-free Olympics, like they used to be in Olympia almost 3000 years ago.
Certainly, the Olympic spirit should be kept. This means that there should be sports events where only the genuine athletic capabilities should be displayed. But I think that there should be an alternative series of events where all kind of enhancement drugs should be allowed, except maybe those with proven high toxicity levels. After all, chemical compounds are part of our daily life. Not everyone can use them. Just a fortunate few can tremendously benefit from them. It is part of the evolution. It should be clear by now that evolution means accepting new challenges, even in the form of chemical compounds.
Of course, the spirit of the games requires that one should not have a competitive edge that is not accessible to others. But as long as every athlete is allowed to use whatever suits him best, and he is aware of the situation I think it is a fair game. The flip side of the coin is the eventual health hazards for the athletes. But this is also part of the game. After all, conventional training might not be all that healthier either. It will be up to the athlete to decide how much to push its limits.
Along the same line of thoughts, maybe a discussion of what kind of apparel should be allowed for use in certain disciplines would be necessary very soon. Certainly, a number of sports depend crucially of the quality of the gear the human body needs in order to perform that specific sport, for example tennis or skiing. In other sports, the distinction between what is really needed and what is used precisely to expand the natural range of human capabilities is less clear. The obvious example is swimming: since the introduction of the new swimming suits (Speedo is one leading brand), world records fall one after another. It is clear these high-tech suits changed the name of the game. Who would dare not to use them, while maintaining hopes for a good result? The use of these new materials is commonly accepted, but what if you have an outstanding swimmer who happens to have a severe allergy to the fabric of these new swimming suits? What then? Even more, as research for new technologies evolves, it is likely that devices like artificially engineered red cells would be common place. These are deemed to be ten times more efficient at transporting oxygen than their organic counterpart. If there are no side-effects what-so-ever, should they be used or forbidden?
I say: let the athletes decide and make the alternative Olympics of dopes a reality, and who knows, it might be a whole lot of new kind of fun. Even more, maybe then we will finally be able to enjoy traditionally drug-free Olympics, like they used to be in Olympia almost 3000 years ago.
1 comment:
Very original & well argumented! I also vote for the alternative Olimpics!
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