Essay on Tour de France Drug Abuse - 4746 Words

The question of drug use among athletes in what was previously considered by the unknowing public to be a rather pristine sport, cycling, is important in that it will affect all future Tours and will place them and the athletes under scrutiny. To begin with, in Europe until the 1998 scandal occurred, despite a few exceptions, cycling was considered a drug free sport. The 1998 drug scandal tarnished the Tour de France and the reputation and image of other sports. The media response to the scandal took differing positions on what should be done next to clean up cycling. The scandal also affected advertisements, sales, and without question the 1999 Tour and Lance Armstrong. Since even the most naà ¯ve fan no longer trusts the cyclists,†¦show more content†¦Pedro Delgado even argued that somebody put them in his glass, and that he did not even notice it. Still these incidents were considered minor in comparison to the sandal of 1998. â€Å"Nowhere has the disgrace of doping been felt more dramatically than in the Tour de France, the world’s most prestigious cycling event† (Wilson E6). The scandal started on July 8 when Festina’s team masseur, Willy Voet crossed the French-Belgian border and was checked by French customs authorities. Driving an official car, issued by the Societe du Tour de France, nobody would have thought that he could be stopped. Voet was carrying plenty of banned substances in his car, which immediately resulted in Voet’s arrest. The drugs found in the car were erythropoietin (or EPO), human growth hormone, testosterone, syringes, and amphetamines. Voet confessed a few days after being arrested that it â€Å"was not the first time he’d ferried such a haul of performance-enhancing dope to big races, generally, as on this occasion, under order from the Festina team bosses† (Fife 201). As soon as the Tour arrived in France on July 14th, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) suspended the professional licenses of Festina’s sports directors, Roussel and Ryckaert, and put the leaders of the team, Richard Virenque, Laurent Brochard, and Laurent Dufaux on hold. The following day the Festina team was disqualified from the Tour after some ofShow MoreRelatedTour de France Drug Abuse4890 Words   |  20 PagesThe question of drug use among athletes in what was previously considered by the unknowing public to be a rather pristine sport, cycling, is important in that it will affect all future Tours and will place them and the athletes under scrutiny. To begin with, in Europe until the 1998 scandal occurred, despite a few exceptions, cycling was considered a drug free sport. The 1998 drug scandal tarnished the Tour de France and the reputation and image of other sports. The media response to the scandalRead MoreEnhancing Drugs And Its Impact On Academic Integrity Statements At Colleges881 Words   |  4 Pagesstatements at colleges. In sports the use of performance-enhancing drugs is considered cheating and is a universally accepted rule. The Tour de France is a bicycle race that tests bikersâ €™ abilities to bike around France without any outside help. Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven titles of the Tour de France when he admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs. Similar reasoning should be applied to using neuro-enhancing drugs illicitly in college. The illicit use of Adderall has a negativeRead MoreAnabolic Steroids : Use And Performance Enhancing Drugs1516 Words   |  7 Pagesperformance enhancing drugs like anabolic steroids has been a debatable topic in the United States as early as the 1950’s. Former U. S. Representative Howard Berman expresses that â€Å"Steroids can seem necessary to compete at the highest level, and the quick rewards may seem to outweigh the long term consequences to users.† The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) states that countless athletes, both young and old, face life threatening illnesses due to the use of performance-enhancing drugs, some of whichRead MoreWhy Performance-Enhancing Drugs Are Ruining Sports Essay1174 Words   |  5 Pagesalike: performance-enhancing drugs. These drugs come in substances, chemical agents and are used in medical procedures which provide the user with an advantage in athletic performance (Encarta, 2007.) These drugs have been a very dark shadow over sports since they came into athletics. Recently, the Tour de France and Major League Baseball have seen major cases in which star athletes in their sports have been questioned if those drugs had been used. These types of drugs are bad for sports, the athletesRead MoreAnabolic Steroids : A Fatal Attraction1734 Words   |  7 Pagesregimen and just can not seem to push through? When some athletes hit the proverbial wall when training they turn to steroids. Ruth Wood in an article titled Anabolic Steroids: A Fatal Attraction? Writes, â€Å"Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) are drugs of abuse. Despite bans on steroid use, Olympic athletes, professional cyclists, American baseball players, and even racehorses have tested positive for AAS. However, AAS are no longer the exclusive province of elite athletes. Among school seniors in theRead MoreErythropoietin : Is It Worth It?1542 Words   |  7 PagesEmory Henry College Over a century ago Eugene Goldwasser and Takaji Miyake worked together in Chicago to synthesize the human hormone erythropoietin, better known as EPO. It took over 10 years for EPO to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration to be used solely for patients with anemia. EPO is naturally produced by the kidneys and is sensitive to the oxygen levels in the blood. When oxygen levels are too low, EPO is released and stimulates the bone marrow to produce more redRead MoreSteroids As Dangerous Illegal Substances1229 Words   |  5 Pageseverything to safeguard him first place in the tour de France races but ultimately lost his seven fold winner title. When allegation were put forward his response was a product of meticulous rebuttals and elaborate lies. Many of us see steroids as dangerous illegal substances, however, it is clear that a sizeable proportion of people are drawn to steroid in an attempt at success. These unorthodox success-grazed individuals will often use synthetic drugs such as HGH (human growth hormone), anabolicRead MoreThe Royal Netherlands Air Force Essay2083 Words   |  9 Pagesthese results is La Course. The tour feminin was raced yearly until the late 80’s. Due to the lack of media interest it had stopped. According to Joldersma (2013) she displayed her determination to see women race on the biggest stage of the world again several times. With her knowledge of what the women’s peloton needed, she acted upon that feeling. Together, with two other pro riders, Marianne talked with the chairman of the Aumury Sport Organisation (ASO) to get Tour Feminin back on the schedule,Read MoreThe French Hip Hop History1045 Words   |  5 Pagesreferred to as Diam’s, played a major role in the French hip-hop history due to her highly controversial music and challenging feminism brought out in a world of machismo. Born in Cyprus in 1980, Diam’s was an only child raised by a single mother in France, in the suburbs of Orsa y. Growing up Diam’s was heavily inspired by French mainstream music: specifically rap and pop. Most notably among the musicians that inspired Diam’s are Supreme NTM and Public Enemy; similarities between the musicians can beRead MorePerformance Enhancing Drugs Should Be Banned1645 Words   |  7 Pagesusing performance enhancing drugs each year. Performance enhancing drugs help athletes to becomes bigger, faster, and overall better at their individual sport. This process is called doping. Doping can be defined as using drugs and various substances to better perform at a particular task. Furthermore, these athletes act in the moment and fail to see all aspects of these performance enhancing drugs. Contradictorily, some individuals argue that performance enhancing drugs should in fact be allowed in