Rocket2 wrote:
Sorry to use another Bodybuilding example, and to pick on Herr Schwarzenegger again, but it just fits so nicely. First of all, the Mr Olympia competition is, was, and probably will be the pinnacle of all global Bodybuilding competitions. Arnold won it six times, which is still by today's standards quite amazing. He was talking steroids as were pretty much everyone else at the time. He Also was not the first to take them. Sergio Oliva, and many others were taking D-bol, Androgen, Thyromucase, and a whole host of drugs that were and still are forbidden. It came out into the public many times. The freak show got worse in the 80's and some people started pushing for All natural competitions. They still exist, but the sponsorship never took hold as many had hoped it would. It seems that people were simply obsessed with bigger and stronger. Although it is a very different sport, there are amazing similarities. We want to see records get broken. We want a sub 2 hour marathon. We love to watch the elite athletes take it to the next level. At some point, the Bodybuilding community gave up. They have some testing, but it is easy to work around it. Athletics, Track and field as they call it in some countries, is no different. Cycling is the same. Doping is happening across the spectrum. You will not stop it, ever! A bit like crime in general. It is sad, but it is reality. The only way to remove doping from major sports, would be to remove the money that gets earned in those sports. Take away the money and it gets cleaned up quickly. Folks...you can't push a river....
Exactly.
I don’t know why people in this thread think testing is for the viewers benefit. Ironically, it’s to try and level the playing field for athletes as well as safety and welfare issues. IE. Letting children follow their dream without having to sacrifice their health and having their heart explode at 40.
Viewers want dopers and genetic freak shows.
Ask the bearded lady of days gone by.
Elite anything often requires enormous cost health wise. Ask the boxer with Parkinson’s, or former NFL player living in a van, or the Fortune 500 CEO on his 5th wife and daily strip of Prozac.
It’s why they made it, they went to places other people wouldn’t.