Steroids in Sports
By: Yan • Research Paper • 1,098 Words • December 29, 2009 • 1,086 Views
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Kiefer 1
Before the 1990's, athletes were unique. They were able to capitalize on their
God-given talents, and make themselves famous based on their skill. But then something
happened. Steroids began to playa bigger and bigger role in sports. No longer were the
most naturally gifted athletes becoming the stars. Now, it can be said that whoever has
the best pharmacist can be the best athlete. As the amount of perfonnance enhancing
steroids increases in professional sports, many athletes are gaining an unfair advantage
over their competition.
Athletes take steroids to gain an advantage. Steroids are used by athletes in
baseball, football, and in Olympic events in hopes of finding the edge to make them the
best in their sport. By mimicking the anabolic effects of testosterone, steroids help build
tissues, help muscle recovery after injuries, and strengthen bones. "We live in a very fast
world now and, we're always looking for a shortcut. We always want to get rich the
fastest way, we want to get famous the fastest way, we want to get strong and be
competitive the fastest way," Arnold Schwarzenegger said, on why athletes take steroids.
Some athletes simply do not feel like they can compete with the best in the world
without a little help. This could be the number one reason why athlete begin taking
steroids. Some of their peers are bigger, faster, or more skilled, and they want to feel
equal, and get a little outside help. "...Some people are naturally gifted, others have to
work very. Some people are not going to make it without extra help," remarked Erik de
Bruin, coach/husband of Michelle Smith, who won three gold medals in the 1996
Olympics, shaving almost twenty seconds off her best time from 1993. To try to gain
athletic equality, or superiority in their sports, they go to steroids for a little extra kick.
Muscle building drugs have transfonned sports into something of a freak show.
Kiefer 2
The general build of a given athlete is much bigger with their arms, shoulders, and legs
enlarged, sometimes to a point that they do not look real. "...Guys out there look like Mr.
Potato head, with a head and arms and 6 or 7 body parts that just don't look right. They
don't fit. I'm not sure how [steroid use] snuck in so quickly, but it's become a prominent
thing very quietly. It'!; widely known in the game." Curt Schilling told Sports TIlustrated.
Baseball, a sport that can be greatly affected by steroids, has seen it's statistics go
through the roof. In the history of Major League Baseball, there have been a total of
thirty-six fifty home run seasons. Only eighteen times had someone hit fifty home runs
in the first one hundred years of baseball. In the last seven years, the same number of
players have hit fifty home runs, with the all-time record of home runs in a season
increasing by 12. "When you add in steroids and strength training, you're seeing records
not being broken, but completely shattered," acknowledged Schilling.
More and more world class athletes are being acknowledged for their ingestion of
steroids. Ben Johnson, in the 1988 Olympic Games in