Thoughts about doping

Erythropoietin (EPO)

I ran away for my run as soon as I came home, to sweat out the pent-up frustration. It was an extremely frustrating day at work. Blessed running helps me forget it all, at least for a short while.

While running, I usually listen to podcasts or an audio book. It occupies my thoughts much more than music. Today it was BBC's documentary about doping in sports, as a lead-in to the Olympics. The reason the authorities can't catch the cheaters using EPO (drug which enables blood to carry bigger amount of oxygen and helps the body regenerate and recover much faster) is because the drug is detectable in urine only 24 hours after it's taken. Its effects, however, last up to 3 months. The athletes simply need to take it few days prior to the competition, and they can't be traced. It seems that good old science is losing the battle in catching the druggies.

It brought a memory of my army days. I trained with a team of runners for an all-army 3 km race. The ten of us were going to represent our whole garrison. Our drill sergeant, who was our trainer and a participant, wanted to win by all means. Before the race, during the pep talk, he gave each of us a white pill. It had something written on in Russian. "Take it an hour before the race," he said, refusing to elaborate what will it do. I make no excuse for myself--I was curious to see what the pill does. Besides, I never perceived army competitions as something of importance, so if the pill has counter effect I won't be sorry. Knowing what I know now, it was a really idiotic reasoning--for all I know he could have given me something to make my heart explode. Luckily, all the magic pill did is propel me with fantastic energy and stamina through the most of the race. Unfortunately, its effects disappeared after 2 km. With another 1000 m to go, I felt drained, breathless and wanted to quit. Somehow, I dragged myself for the remainder of the race and still managed to finish 11th out of 3000 soldiers.

That pill was the only instance I cheated in sports, and still stings my conscience to these days. Listening to BBC today, however, I could see no end in doping cheating in sports. That's when a thought came: why don't they simply forget about the doping control? Let the thieves inject whatever they want and see how far they go. They are doing it anyway. But, legalizing doping could level the game--if the athletes who are not doing it yet start with the doping, they'll catch up with the cheating "elite". And maybe--just maybe--someone will realize that it's the same if everyone takes drugs as if no one takes it. But, that would be too much, expecting the world to turn better instead of worse.