INQUIRY  

Albanian weightlifter Hysen Pulaku tested positive for the steroid stanozolol and sent home from the Olympic Games

Even before the opening ceremony at the Olympic Games four athletes were banned from participating in the Games because they were found to have used performance-enhancing drugs. 

'Why would an Olympic athlete use performance-enhancing drugs to win a gold medal?'

This question has been the driving force behind room 11's mini inquiry this week. 

It is hoped that the 2012 London Games will be the cleanest (drug-free) Olympics ever. To get a sense of how this will be achieved Room 11 watched a video clip that depicts how the drug testing process works.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16626082 

First we looked at the history of the use of drugs to improve an athlete's performance at the Olympic Games. Although drug use dates back to the Ancient Olympics, testing for performance-enhancing drugs began at the 1968 Olympics.

People have different beliefs about using performance-enhancing drugs when competing in the Olympics. We discussed these beliefs and as a class we believe that it is unfair and could lead to some dire consequences such as having long term effects on your body. We also discussed the question would people's beliefs about using performance-enhancing drugs change if everybody was allowed to use them? After Ben Johnson was stripped of his gold medal at the Seoul Olympics in 1988 for testing positive for a banned drug, his coach remarked "Its not cheating if everyone else is doing it"

 

Rashid Ramzi was disqualified at the 2008 Beijing Olympics due to a positive drug test. This saw New Zealander Nick Willis's bronze medal become a silver one!

 

Room 11 talked about all the sacrifices that athletes make in order to win a gold medal. Some of the sacrifices that we thought of included:

• Not being with your family
• Training seven days a week and doing nothing else
• Not being able to go to school or university
• Giving up a job and spending all your money on training  

To answer our question we also examined all the pressures that an athlete might face these included:

• Pressure from family and friends
• Expectation to win a gold medal from your country
• Your own expectation to be the best

It is difficult to know exactly why an athlete would take drugs to enhance their performance. We do know that devoting so much time to the goal of winning a gold medal and being under so much pressure sometimes leads athletes to look at other ways to enhance their performance.