Use Of Performance-enhancing Drugs In The Olympic Games
The use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) has had a long history at the Olympic Games. Its origins can be traced even back to the Ancient Olympics where Olympians would eat lizard meat prepared a special way, in the hopes that it would give them an athletic edge. The first documented use of drugs to improve an athlete's performance was the winner of the 1904 marathon, Thomas Hicks who was injected with strychnine. The use of performance-enhancing medication has also been attributed to one death during Olympic competition. As rumors of rampant drug use by athletes began to spread, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to act. By 1967, the IOC had banned the use of performance enhancing drugs in Olympic competition. The IOC introduced the first drug use controls at the 1968 Winter Olympics.
These controls eventually evolved into a systematic-testing regimen that all Olympic athletes must adhere to. Testing of athletes for performance-enhancing drugs includes both urine and blood tests. As of 1999, the authoritative body on the use of performance-enhancing drugs is the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). This organization oversees the testing of athletes for several sports federations and the Olympic Games. As the creators of these drugs continue to improve their sophistication, potency and transparency, WADA and its constituency also innovate new ways to detect these drugs. Athletes continue to use various medical modifications to their body as a means of improving their athletic performances.
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