Knowingly or Unknowingly taking Steroids – An individual’s sport career ended

To compete at this high level in professional sports some athletes go to extremes to be the best. I recently saw a documentary were a teenager who was elite in his sport and was found to have been taking steroids. But in his case, he had no idea. He thought it was his hard work and dedication to the sport, only to find out the vitamins his father had been giving him over the years were actually oral steroids. This is an excuse used often by athletes, sometimes it’s true, sometimes it’s just that: an excuse, something to blame it on other than themselves.

Whether an athlete takes steroids knowingly or not, steroids ruin their lives (especially when caught). Doping takes away from the integrity of the game and it becomes less exciting, if someone beats a world record, but have been doping, it’s not accepted as actually being an accomplishment. Along with there being many health problems that are associated with taking steroids and other supplements or ways of doping. With medical advances, doping is going to see new ways athletes try to become better, whether that be legal or not.

The National Doping Policies of the USOC and their enforcement is extremely important because without it the sports world would struggle with athletes taking actions to become better that could be detrimental to their health and the sport. Especially at the Olympic level, these athletes are role models, young athletes are impressionable so having athletes who understand the importance of these policy and follow them are going to be a positive influence on the community, young athletes and represent their sport in a positive light.