Elite Sport and Cheating: nothing surprises us any more
The revelations that come out day after day about doping seem to have little impact on public opinion. In fact, many of us are interested only in the athlete's "high-performances". And the athlete who blindly obeys his coach appears to be a powerless victim of the "system". In any case, as soon as a scandal breaks, sport federations and public authorities pretend that they were not aware of these illegal practices. A special mention must go to the UCI concerning the use of motors in professional cycling: obviously, it must be very hard to detect a motor in a bicycle! We also remember the virile look of many swimmers members of the women's teams of former East-Germany. It wasn't really a state secret. More recently, a whistleblower, Grigory Rodchenkov, former head of the Russian anti-doping laboratory confirmed our suspicions of massive fraud affecting the sport in this country. Fearing for his life, he has fled to the US in 2016. It should also be recalled that over a lengthy period of time the chances of being caught because of an anti-doping testing were very small. Today, despite the rise of new technologies such as brain stimulation or new doping methods like microdosing, the World Anti-Doping Agency believes that tools such as the "Biological Passport" could drastically reduce doping. However, in view of the increasing number of new illicit drugs appearing on the market, this statement seems to be rather overenthusiastic. Finally, we must consider that sporting ethics is no longer a top priority for the public. And how can we fail to note that in this field, many sporting authorities and governments are charmingly naive.
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