Olympics

As a runner I know the importance of training and I also know the satisfaction of winning a sport you have been dedicated to; the adrenaline rush from knowing that you are the best and no one else can beat you. I am against performance enhancing drugs and yet saying this, I know that all athletes including myself eat ‘naturally enhancing performance drugs’ that we are recommended by coaches. For example, I make sure to eat a lot of starch and carbohydrates before a marathon; is this performance enhancement as it will increase the amount of energy I have during a race?

In addition, there is a fine line between products that slightly improve the athletes’ performance on the day of the event and drugs which alter the functioning of the athletes’ body. By taking performance enhancing drugs the athlete is increasing his or her chance of winning a game through unnatural means giving him or her an unfair advantage to other participants. The Olympics, is an event that brings together the best athletes, to show the outstanding achievement of an individual who has an unsurpassed talent. However, the Olympics is not an event created to showcase which athlete can take the best performance enhancement drug.

Finally, I know that athletes are a source of inspiration for many young people as they demonstrate that dedication and hard work results in success. It would be a disappointment, to find that the person you have lived your life in inspiration of, didn’t succeed because they persevered but because they simply used better drugs than the other athletes. Using performance enhancement drugs would only exhibit to younger generations that as humans we aren’t good enough to naturally accomplish our dreams and would give them a distorted view that in order to succeed, we need to lie and that behind every success there was a cheat.

Love O