Doping in Sport

Upon receiving my latest issue of Velonews, I was NOT at all surprised to see another article about the prevalence of drug use in cycling. Titled "The Years Biggest Disappointment" the article mimics that of 2004, where "hardly a week had gone by without a major bust, denial or teary confession." It seems the one difference in this article is that issues being raised in 2005 are about testing protocols, and the fairness of the system. I am no expert, but I will give a short history of the use of drugs in sport...
1954 - the first sub 4 minute mile run was broken by Roger Bannister . He broke this record with little training because at that time it was widely accepted that exercise over 30 minutes would cause irreparable heart damage...
1960 Olympic Games and 1967 Tour de France - two deaths caused by the use of amphetamines.
1984 - US Cycling Team used uncross-matched blood doping in the Los Angeles Olympic Games.
1988 - Standard testing of athletes only at times of competition.
1998 - EPO use at Tour de France. EPO is hormone normally produced by your body to increase the number of red blood cells. Athletes have used artificial EPO to increase their oxygen carrying capacity and therefore their aerobic performance.
2000 - Development of a test for artificial EPO use...a seemingly breakthrough in the fight against doping.
2005 - Back testing of Lance Armstrong's blood samples from the 1999 Tour de France show EPO use...or do they? There were numerous questions around the validity of tests carried out on such old samples of urine,and of the entire testing regime.
2004 - Belgian triathlete Rutger Beke was suspended from competition for 18 months for supposed EPO use. The ban was lifted in August 2005 due to results from a recent study show that some athletes can excrete proteins in their blood after strenuous exercise that would give false positive results to EPO use.
Today - year round testing in athletes both in and out of competition.

The entire culture around sport has changed. The training methods have changed, the equipment has changed and the pressure of athletes to succeed has never been greater. These athletes today push themselves to the physical and mental limit, a far cry from the standard of exercise in the 1950s. Is it really a surprise that the use of performance enhancing drugs has increased as well?? The World Anti-Doping Association has been in the forefront of developing tests to catch the drug users, however, their testing cannot keep up with the designer drugs the athletes have access to. So, are we really watching our hero's race or are we watching pharmacology at work? Where do we draw the line? Are altitude training and hypoxic tents the same "idea" as blood doping? Should they be banned to? Should doping be legal? . Because of the serious health risks associated with the use of drugs, should there be standards in place?
I don't know the answers to these questions. I do know that the athletes we watch are amazing physical beings - with or without drugs. The average joe on performance enhancing drugs couldn't do what these athletes do. I suggest to anyone who thinks they can to try to ride up L'Alpe d'Huez...just once, without stopping...good luck.
Because I have no real conclusion to draw from my rant, I will leave you with this to ponder...the maker of EPO (Amgen) is going to sponsor a cycling road race, the Tour of California, in 2005...odd?? I think so.