No Dope, No Hope

By Bolota Asmerom

The topic of doping in sports is a sensitive topic of discussion amongst athletes and often not worthy of discussion with individuals without professional connection to sports.  Athletes avoid having such talks for reasons ranging from not being well informed or raising suspicion towards themselves to fear of being targeted by other athletes, coaches and sports officials who might be  utilizing banned substances.  As for the general population, such discussions resemble a conversation about thermodynamics between an astrophysicist and “Joe the plumber” .  Nonetheless, both types of discussions too often hint acceptance, tolerance, or indifference. 

I'm very passionate about this topic because I see this type of passive attitude crushing the dreams of my peers and tarnishing the integrity of athletic achievements.  I live in the Bay Area and witnessed the BALCO scandal in the workings right on my home track and continue to see the remnants of it lurking around my community.  In order to fully grasp the severity of doping in sports, we have to understand that an athlete's career span is probably one of the shortest amongst all professions and the smallest of hinderance or performance related shortcomings bares detrimental consequences. For instance, the average career span of a sprinter is probably four to six years at their peak performance. This is the period where a sprinter is most productive and her earning potential is highest. This type of athlete on average trains for 6 to 10 years before she reaches the level where she can compete for olympic and world championship teams.  If she fails to make a team simply because any of the three ladies who beat her for the top three spots were later to be found dirty, no kind of ban or suspension is going to bring back her olympic experience or the financial rewards that are rightfully her's. Not only has this athlete been robbed of hundreds of thousands of dollars and an Olympic credential but she will once again have to compete with the same athletes four years later for those same spots after they've served their two year suspensions. It seems unfair to me that the clean athlete suffers more for being clean than the doped athlete in this circumstance.  Sometimes I wonder whether the motto of the pro cycling circle “No Dope, No Hope” applies across the board to all sports.

On that note, It's kind of an unspoken truth amongst the cycling circle that everyone dopes at the professional level. In my opinion such an unwritten agreement between the athletes, coaches, and managers relatively creates a much safer competitive climate simply because every cyclist knows what he's getting into and if every athletes has access to the same goods, the playing field is theoretically leveled.  So, yes, Lance is more talented and has a bigger heart than everyone else.  Yes, in accordance with the inner circle of trust amongst doped athletes, he did not cheat.  He  might have had better quality EPO and HGH but nevertheless played by the same rules as all the other doped athletes and beat them “fair and square”.  My problem with this scenario is not the actual usage of the banned substances but the blatant lies to the public and deceit behind every philanthropic and charitable cause endorsed by such individuals. Although the anti-doping agencies makes a decent attempt to professionally crucify the cheats, society fails to follow suit and uphold their responsibility of crucifying the cheats socially.

Often, however, the systems in place to combat and regulate doping in sports partially address the issues of cheating.  For example, the “Zero Tolerance Rule” seems to be tolerant of a great deal when after serving a two year suspension, convicted doped athletes are given a second chance to continue to steal from their peers and put themselves at greater health risks until they are busted again.  If we pay close attention, we would notice that doped athletes almost always test positive for the same or other banned substances soon after they are reinstated. It's like putting a convicted drug dealer back out on the streets and expecting him not to sell drugs. The chances are very slim, especially if there aren't any other options for survival.  Such tolerance is not only unfair to clean athletes, the fans and the up-coming youth in the sport but irresponsible on the the part of the leadership and the community at large who seems to have a very short memory.  Respectable societies don't allow known and convicted pedophiles onto school playgrounds and subject their children to the risks of molestation; so why does the athletic governing bodies and anti-doping agencies find it justifiable to subject honest and loyal athletes to  the potential abuse by individuals who have proven to be hostile towards their peers?  No responsible parents or community would put their children at such risks, so why do we allow and tolerate convicted drug cheats to compete, coach, advice and mentor our children? Are we turning the other cheek or just simply irresponsible?

So what is the responsible and respectable thing to do as governing bodies, anti-doping agencies and most importantly a community? 

I propose:

1. A life ban for first time offenses, not only from the sport but from any professional field and social environment that is directly related to athletics or working with children.  I don't want to throw any names out there, but I know too many convicted dirty athletes, coaches, and managers who coach, teach, advise and mentor in our communities.
2. A convicted athlete should have to pay back ALL of their earnings attained through the sport to be dispersed amongst the clean athletes who were directly affected in the respective event.  
3. They should be stripped of ALL records and titles that they attained throughout their professional careers.  
4. “A Wall of Shame”.  A physical and virtual wall with photos of all cheats  on every community field or sport's arena and their websites.  This will deter every kid from cheating and inform every parent and community member of the all the cheats. This will also deter the cheats themselves from setting foot on any of these facilities.