Anabolic steroid use in sports.
Before we start the journey of this article, let us find out the top most priorities of a modern day sportsman - name, fame, money, recognition, and awards. You may have some more to add but we have just highlighted some of the most admired things in a sportsman's life.
Let us now evaluate if the human body is able to sustain constant load of exercises, competition, and pressure. Well the answer is a big no as everybody has their limitations and the body of a sportsman is no different. Now comes the question, how can a sportsman create and maintain a distinctive advantage when his body does not allow him to be at 100%?
The answer is simple – by using anabolic steroids. This may sound absurd to you in the first place but its the truth - it cannot be denied or left hidden behind the walls of lies.
Now that we have found out why sportsmen use steroids, let us read if these incidents of steroid use in sports are new or was in existence in earlier years as well.
The Greeks and the Vikings
It is believed that during the times of Ancient Romans and Greeks, sportsmen used to find new ways to improve the level of testosterone to win competitions. These ways could be as unique as ingesting testicles of sheep like the afghan people, or to eating raw meat as the vikings did.
During the World Weightlifting Championships of 1954, the Soviet team excelled at almost every event and a Soviet doctor said that the team members were given injections of testosterone, a male sex hormone. This was the time when the team physician for USA, John Ziegler, tried with all his efforts and issued instructions for development of anabolic steroids, so that his team could enhance performance in future sports events.
Whatever may have been the ways or the reasons to do such things, the only purpose was performance improvement. This is exactly what modern day sportsmen are doing with anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs.
Famous athletes
You will be amazed to know that some of the biggest names in the world of sports such as Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Ivan Rodriguez, Juan Gonzalez, Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Shane Warne, Carl Lewis, Diego Maradona, and Marion Jones have been accused of using anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs to improve performance on the field. What is more amazing is that more and more junior high school and high school students, aspiring to be future sportsmen, are making use of steroids to stay ahead of the rat race. This disturbing fact has been highlighted by many studies in the recent past. If that was not all, sportsmen are using steroids even at higher levels such as NFL, MBA, Commonwealth games, and even the Olympics to win applauds and admiration.
Whatever may be the claims of anti-doping agencies and sports confederations, there is no denying the fact that more and more sportsmen are using (and hiding) the use of anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs.
