Doping and the Cold War

  I was genuinely shocked by some of the information presented in Dr. Hunt’s article regarding doping, the Cold War, and the Olympics.  Having been raised in a society where doping is generally considered to be the ultimate form of cheating in sport, I was surprised to learn that the USOC and various other governing bodies turned a blind eye to doping as long as it wasn’t negatively affecting them.  In some cases, the governments basically looked for ways to ensure that their athletes had access to the latest drugs that were technically “legal” under the current rules.  All of this makes me wonder what caused the dramatic shift in the way that athletes, coaches, doctors, the USOC, the IOC, the various governments of the world, and the general public view doping.  But then again, has anything really changed? While today’s athletes and the governing bodies of sport certainly do not condone steroid use in the public arena, no one really knows what happens behind closed doors.  I think that this is because the “win at all costs” attitude has remained constant over the years.  At the highest levels of elite competition, athletes will generally do whatever it takes to win because the stakes are so high and because the pressure to succeed is so great.  While this pressure may not be as politically motivated as it was during the Cold War, political pressure still exists.  In addition, athletes feel the pressure to succeed because of economic reasons.  Further complicating matters is the fact that the line between “doping” and medical treatment has become so blurred that it is almost impossible to discern what is truly “natural.” Because of all this, I think that on some level we don’t really care what athletes do to gain an advantage, as long as it benefits us in some way. We just prefer to be in the dark about exactly what it is that the athletes do to gain it.