Angela J Schneider – Drugs in Sport
Dr Schneider is both an ethics specialist, she is also expert on the state of drug testing in sport and works with WADA.
Timestamps
01:15 Background in rowing – from recruitment at university to the 1984 Olympics and retirement in 1985 before the 2010 comeback as a master and learning to scull with Volker Nolte.
06:30 The history of drugs in sport – it’s always been there
We knew it took off in a couple of sports – cycling where they used strychnine or sugar and ether.
1956 Olympics in Melbourne when USSR joined was the first where steroids were used.
In 1984 cyclists were blood doping.
Two types of performance enhancement
– Strength – testosterone and steroids
– Cardiovascular – increasing blood update and EPO
Some sports use stimulants too
10:00 The IOC took notice when someone died and introduced the rules.
Angela joined WADA in 2000.
Beating the tests is the ongoing challenge
12:00 If it wasn’t banned, it wasn’t cheating. When it was against the rules then it was cheating – a game of deception and the ethics came in too.
There were 600 drugs on the list based on are they 2 out of these 3 things
– harmful
– performance enhancing
– against the spirit of sport
15:30 Medics can’t research on human subjects. But the military can.
17:30 Genetic doping is gene transfer technology this is the new biggie. Look for the Marathon Mouse experiment – this enabled huge oxygen uptake without training.
The Schwarzenegger Rat is another one where a gene mutation is used to grow muscle strength.
Baby Popeye is a third – natural in nature.
22:00 To test for gene doping you have to find the injection site. WADA asked for a green marker to be added.
25:00 WADA’s expertise was laboratory until the Russian scandal in the Winter Olympics. Blood tests are hard to beat.Urine can be inserted to the bladder.
WADA had to become sophisticated intelligence – a spying agency.
28:00 Rule interpretation is another issue – the letter versus the spirit.
We will never have perfect fair play.
Gamesmanship is probably less morally reprehensible than cheating. Is this now a skill in professional sport? Moral character is affected – what does the win mean?
30:00 the Umpires and referees do interpret it. e.g. soccer “diving” when they fake an injury.
Respect for the game and for your opponent.
33:00 Sanctions – should they be standardised?
– let’s get down to the core drugs only on the banned list.
– Consistency of the rules. Some sports are short-lived. Justice has to take into account the sport and the drug. We need minimum and maximum penalties
Athletes have rights. We are a drug taking society – why are we so concerned?
36:00 Inadvertent doping.
We need to scale back and not sweat the small stuff.
Focus on Olympics, not on masters.
Athletes have to forfeit their privacy for drug testing.
41:00 I know when I was racing rowers did take drugs.
Rowing could benefit but in our culture we are anti drugs.
Celebrate sport and good humans.
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