The US tennis legend's confession leaves little to the imagination regarding the new road professional athletes will take.
by Alan Nicolea on 02 November 2009
The recent revelation of eight-time Grand Slam winner Andre Agassi has just put another nail in the coffin in sport's faltering bid to eradicate drug cheats.
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One has to go back to the start of the 20th century to find athletes participating in sport without the use of drugs.
Fast forward a century, however, and drug-taking in sport has managed to consume itself in everyday competition, ranging from local tournaments to some of the world's most-watched championships.
Fuelled by the constant pressure placed on athletes to forge successful careers, drugs in sport has unfortunately become part of a business that thrives on its ability to provide people with a source of entertainment, revenue and employment.
Indeed, the true meaning behind sport changed the moment it became a significant social tool that endorsed a philosophy surrounding the athlete's need to be THE best, rather than try their best.
This period ultimately began during the 1950s, when the Soviet team used male hormones to increase power and strength among their athletes.
In response, the emerging United States global power developed steroids in a bid to get the best out of their athletes on a regular basis.
In spite of the growing presence of drugs in sport at the time, many sporting governing bodies failed to come up with a solution to a problem which was costing athletes their lives.
Danish cyclist Kurt Jenson collapsed and died during the 1960 Olympics, thanks to an amphetamine overdose.
The incident forced the Council of Europe to set up a drugs committee three years later, following mounting pressure on the IOC to implement a strategy to kerb drug-taking in sport.
Despite creating the committee, the IOC failed to find a definition for doping and thus allowed drugs presence in sport to grow.
During the Tour de France in 1967, cyclist Tommy Simpson died following the illegal taking of amphetamines, which prompted the IOC to develop a list of banned substances a year after the incident took place.
The 1988 Seoul Olympics saw Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson test positive for a banned anabolic steriod which saw him stripped of his gold medal and consequently banned from racing for two years.
Whilst Johnson later admitted to taking illegal substances, other athletes (most notably Carl Lewis) managed to escape sanctions by the IOC during the Seoul Olympics.
Lewis in particular failed three tests during the 1988 US Olympic trials which should have prevented him from competing in the Seoul Games.
He would later reveal that he was just one of 'hundreds' of US athletes who were allowed to escape bans concealed by the USOC.
Although numerous governing bodies, such as FIFA and the IAAF, have since taken up the fight against doping, many fans believe sports such as football and baseball continually fail in their bid to catch athletes responsible for taking illegal drugs.
An example of this was Operation Puerto, which involved approximately 200 sports people being implicated in blood doping.
The majority of athletes consisted of cyclists and several high-profile football and tennis players.
Whilst most cyclists were banned for their part in blood doping, (among them Ivan Basso and Tyler Hamilton), not a single soccer player involved in the doping ring was named, and to this day, all remain unpunished.
Indeed the Puerto case just exemplifies how truly difficult it is to eradicate drug taking in sport.
The fight itself is now reaching a sombre state which may see sport join the enemy and legalise doping.
The most obvious benefit from such an approach would involve a level playing field throughout any particular sport.
The cons, however, relate to the health and wellbeing of the sportsperson, with many saying that doping could be legalised only if athletes were to undergo consistent medical counselling and check-ups.
Whilst such legalisation remains just an idea, legal drug-taking may soon become a reality as athletes all over the globe become further entrenched in the massive, growing business that is world sport.
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