Doping for Gold - Response

Above everyone the athletes have the biggest responsibility. They have the choice to say "no" to these drugs. Nonetheless, they have the responsibility to know what type of drug they are putting into their system and find about the consequences in taking the supplement. They need to be better aware of what they are consuming. On the other hand, the coaches also have partial responsibility. The coach should be training their athlete on a specific sporting event so that their athletes naturally grow muscles. In result, it will help the athlete perform better. The coach should be mentoring the athletes not demanding them to take certain drugs that have fast results and everlasting health effects on the athletes. Lastly, the Olympic board should assume the responsibility that no athletes should be given the opportunity to cheat by enhancing their performance with those drugs. If the athletes don't meet the quota, they should not quickly be given a supplement; instead, the athlete should quickly be replaced by an athlete who doesn't rely on drugs. The three parties: athletes, coaches, and Olympic board each share responsibility in the ongoing drug abuse.

To me it was shocking that Dr. Hoopner's job strayed from being a trusted health provider. Instead, his job was a sports program chief. His prime duty was to ensure that other sport doctors were supplied with the right amount of drugs. The drugs, in which, helped the athletes build quick strength, increased muscle mass, and hastened recovery time. It seemed more and more secrets were kept in 1974 regarding the drugs the athletes were forced to take. For example, to avoid inquires, club doctors distributed anonymous drugs and not informing the athlete of what pills they were taking. Instead of seeing the drugs as corrupt or dishonest, the drugs were referred to as "support drugs" that "supports training." This was their only way to cover the awful truth of how they were mistreating the innocent athletes. Most of all, I couldn't believe when the athletes questioned the pills they were scorn, especially since I believe they have the biggest responsibility to take care of their health and body.