Doping in sports

Doping in sports is something that has happened for what is thought to be many years, but it is now only getting to the point that the medical technology is able to accurately find any substances. Lance Armstrong’s doping case is huge because he had been accused for so long, and during all of that time he had always been able to fight the allegations in court or disprove the findings. This time the evidence was so overwhelming that he didn’t even try to fight it. His silence was almost a silent and passive admission of guilt. Fans outraged on social media both against and to the defense of the star but the damage was done in the public eye. The media had a field day with the story, because Armstrong was a hero and it is always a story when a hero falls from grace. He has lost his money, his sponsors, his career and most of all his name as a star and his own brand.

Thankfully the only legacy that will maintain and that should maintain is his LiveStrong foundation. The charity has done wonders in providing funds for research into curing cancer. The charity shouldn’t be punished for the actions of their founder. He stared the foundation after his own battle with cancer and used his influence to fight and provide for people with the disease and to prevent the disease so nobody had to suffer. However even since the doping scandal they have distanced themselves from Lance publicly.

The biggest athlete I can think of that something like this has happened to is Jose Conseco. He was a major league baseball player, and it was discovered that he was using performance enhancing substances. He was essentially banned from the sport, and within the last decade has written a book about his experience and what really goes on in the world of MLB and steroids. Since then many other MLB players have been pulled in to be tested for performance enhancers, it almost seems more than any other American sport.

I think this technology could be used to make major advances in medicine by tracking the types of medicinal drugs that are on the market and seeing how the work with a person’s body. From there work could be done to tailor that drug to make it more effective, or perhaps even lessen the side effects.