The use of performance-enhancing substances has now begun to hit the mainstream news media, first with the various allegations of banned substances at the Tour de France this year, and now with the stories surrounding Mark McGwire.
The public calls into question the achievements of those who have used enhancers, and places the blame on the athletes. But the public loses interest in the sports unless the scores are driven higher, the speeds are faster and there is more action at a faster pace. At some point, there is a natural limit to human performance, and in order to meet the demands of the public, and to obtain and maintain their contracts, athletes are driven to seek assistance outside their natural abilities.
Sport governing bodies have experienced the problem of detecting those substances. With the invention of each new test for a performance enhancer or a masking agent, there is a new substance or masking agent that is designed or discovered. The athletes also have faced the problem that many of the substances are available in over-the-counter cold and allergy medications, and therefore test positive for a substance that they did not take for that purpose.
There are further problems in that there is a lack of uniformity regarding which substances are viewed as performance-enhancing substances as well as which substances are considered banned. With Mark McGwire we are seeing the lack of uniformity between sports. The substance which he is presently taking is banned in the National Football League as well as the NCAA. This same substance is available in any health food store.
There needs to be an international and cross-sport uniform list of what substances are allowed, what substances are banned and the punishments for using banned substances. What the public needs to do is to realize that there are limits to human performance and endurance.
