Performance Enhancing Drugs In Sports

What is much worst than losing the honor to belong to the hall of fame? Who would give up the privilege to stand as a hero, a true legend, in sport's history? Some athletes have denied this privilege by using performance-enhancing drugs. Mark McGwire was one of these athletes. He is 10th on the career home run list, but was denied admission to the hall of fame after revealing he had used steroids and human growth hormone. These athletes chose performance-enhancing drugs over the hall of fame. The effect of drugs in an athlete's recognition is not the only disadvantage; there is more implied in this subject. It is then important to recognize that the use of drugs in sports will cause many negative effects.

The fact that drug usage in sports affects an athlete's health is undeniable. A common type of steroids, consumed by many athletes to increase muscle mass, are anabolic steroids. These steroids have been proved to develop dangerous side effects. Some of the side effects in men are shrunken testicles, infertility, and prostate gland enlargement. Women may develop baldness and infrequent or absent periods. In both women and men, increased risk of tendon rupture, hypertension, heart and …show more content…
Professor Dixon states, "It is not that people are not interested in science fairs; it is just that people expect sport to be a different kind of test, one in which athletes' own qualities are the major determinants of success" (ProCon). People expect an entertaining sporting event qualified by the superb effort of an athlete, not performance-enhancing drugs. What is the point of being a talented athlete if everyone can become an athlete by the consumption of performance-enhancing drugs? It is not about how many records an athlete breaks, but it is the effort it takes an athlete to get there. Fans expect to see an athlete performing at his best without the help of performance-enhancing drugs

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