Steroids in Sports

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Before the 1990's, athletes were unique. They were able to capitalize on their

God-given talents, and make themselves famous based on their skill. But then something

happened. Steroids began to playa bigger and bigger role in sports. No longer were the

most naturally gifted athletes becoming the stars. Now, it can be said that whoever has

the best pharmacist can be the best athlete. As the amount of perfonnance enhancing

steroids increases in professional sports, many athletes are gaining an unfair advantage

over their competition.

Athletes take steroids to gain an advantage. Steroids are used by athletes in

baseball, football, and in Olympic events in hopes of finding the edge to make them the

best in their sport. By mimicking the anabolic effects of testosterone, steroids help build

tissues, help muscle recovery after injuries, and strengthen bones. "We live in a very fast

world now and, we're always looking for a shortcut. We always want to get rich the

fastest way, we want to get famous the fastest way, we want to get strong and be

competitive the fastest way," Arnold Schwarzenegger said, on why athletes take steroids.

Some athletes simply do not feel like they can compete with the best in the world

without a little help. This could be the number one reason why athlete begin taking

steroids. Some of their peers are bigger, faster, or more skilled, and they want to feel

equal, and get a little outside help. "...Some people are naturally gifted, others have to

work very. Some people are not going to make it without extra help," remarked Erik de

Bruin, coach/husband of Michelle Smith, who won three gold medals in the 1996

Olympics, shaving almost twenty seconds off her best time from 1993. To try to gain

athletic equality, or superiority in their sports, they go to steroids for a little extra kick.

Muscle building drugs have transfonned sports into something of a freak show.

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The general build of a given athlete is much bigger with their arms, shoulders, and legs

enlarged, sometimes to a point that they do not look real. "...Guys out there look like Mr.

Potato head, with a head and arms and 6 or 7 body parts that just don't look right. They

don't fit. I'm not sure how [steroid use] snuck in so quickly, but it's become a prominent

thing very quietly. It'!; widely known in the game." Curt Schilling told Sports TIlustrated.

Baseball, a sport that can be greatly affected by steroids, has seen it's statistics go

through the roof. In the history of Major League Baseball, there have been a total of

thirty-six fifty home run seasons. Only eighteen times had someone hit fifty home runs

in the first one hundred years of baseball. In the last seven years, the same number of

players have hit fifty home runs, with the all-time record of home runs in a season

increasing by 12. "When you add in steroids and strength training, you're seeing records

not being broken, but completely shattered," acknowledged Schilling.

More and more world class athletes are being acknowledged for their ingestion of

steroids. Ben Johnson, in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, set a world record in the

100 meters, running it in 9.79 seconds. Johnson was the fastest man of all time for just a

couple days, when his medal and time was revoked when he tested positive for steroids.

Another track star, C.J. Hunter, tried to gain an advantage over his competition. Prior to

2000, Hunter was the top shot putter in the United States. Right before the Olympics, he

tested positive of steroids and was banned from all competitions for two years. Last year

in the NFL, Rookie of the Year contender, Julius Peppers's season was abruptly halted

after he tested positive for steroids. Jose Conseco made history when he became the first

man to hit forty home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season. After his retirement,

Conseco claimed that he had taken steroids throughout his career, enhancing his abilities

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and allowing him to do what he did. Another big-time player, Ken Caminiti, came out of

the steroid closet after his retirement. He started taking steroids after he had injured his

shoulder at the beginning of the 1996 season. After the All-Star break, Caminiti went on

to hit thirty-six home runs, raising his total to fifty, twenty eight more than his previous

high,