Sports and Steroids

Volume 3: December Comments Off

By: Selina F. and Angelica S.

It all started during the 1988 Olympics when Canadian Ben Johnson was declined his gold medal due to the fact that his test results came back positive for steroids. Since then, problems with this drug have been related constantly with sports. It comes up in all sports ranging from baseball to football to wrestling.

First, you might want to know exactly what a steroid is. Steroids are a synthetic version of the male testosterone. Testosterone promotes muscle growth and when it is matched with steroids you increase muscle mass, reduce body fat, and enhance your endurance.

Some examples of side effects are: a feeling of depression and constant mood swings. Some physical effects are liver damage, cancer, acne, and hair growth or loss.

For athletes, the feeling of being invincible is very beneficial. Their performance and endurance increase dramatically helping their overall game. Today, a few athletes in sports who are dealing with the steroid problem are: Barry Bonds, Marc McGuire, Garry Sheffield, and Roger Marris.

These athletes have had very impressive records before the steroid question arose but the increase of their abilities has raised many eyebrows. Barry Bonds hit an average of 35 homeruns a season. Then the BALCO incident occurred, and Barry’s friend, Greg Anderson, stated that he was supplying Barry with steroids. Since then Barry has faced many accusations that he was cheating in his games. Roger Maris almost never hit homeruns and went on to hit about 61 homeruns in a single season.

In early December the former U.S. senator, George Mitchell, put out a report calling out every baseball star that has used steroids. The list of users he named included over 86 baseball stars. Mitchell claims that the steroid users discuss openly in their clubhouses about how they use the drug. He also stated the team employees carry around duffel bags filled with syringes and drug vials. “Widespread illegal use of steroids and other anabolic substances has afflicted baseball for many years,” said Mitchell.

Marion Jones, a gold medalist who is also dealing with a steroid issue, was forced to return the five medals she won at the Sydney Olympics. She was caught with steroids and is now being named a fraud. Marion has won golds in the 100 and 200 meter races and the 1,600 relay. Now her medals are being sent back to the International Olympic Committee, where they will decide the final result.

Do they use steroids because it helps their game? Do they like the way it makes them look? Is society pressuring them? We may never know the answer.

In the long run, steroids are not worth it. They might help performance but they also cause serious life long damages to a human’s body. In the end, steroids turn out to be a bigger risk than a reward.

Works Cited

1. According to SFGate.com (2007) “Widespread illegal use of steroids and other anabolic substances has afflicted baseball for many years,” said Mitchell. Lance Williams, John Shea, and Chronicle Staff Writers.

admin @ December 19, 2007