Usage of performance enhancers dates back to the ancient Greeks, who consumed compounds such as strychnine, alcohol, caffeine, and cocaine to increase endurance. In addition, both their athletes and warriors used hallucinogen mushrooms to get “psyched up” prior to competition or combat. In fact, “the Berserkers” of Norway were so named for their practice of using psychedelic mushrooms prior to fighting, causing them to fight much more savagely. 3
In the 1800s morphine was given to both boxers and endurance athletes – it is believed to have killed cyclist Arthur Lindon in 1896. 4 In 1904, Thomas Hicks was injected with strychnine mid-race before going on to win the marathon at the London Olympics. 5 Amphetamines were first synthesized in Germany in 1887, but they were not widely used until World War II. The United States gave amphetamines to their soldiers to help them stay alert with less sleep. During the war, Germany gave anabolic steroids to their army to increase aggression levels.
In 1928, the International Amateur Athletic Federation was the first organization to ban doping, but did not do any sort of testing. As a result, the ban was largely ignored. Doping levels consistently rose to the point at which both US and Soviet athletes were known to be doping in the 1950’s.6 In 1960, Dr. John Zeigler gave the drug Dianabol (an anabolic steroid) to three weightlifters, who, although good to begin with, quickly improved to become national champions. This caused usage of anabolic steroids to spread to many other sports in the US. However, also in 1960, Danish cyclist Kurt Jansen was killed by an amphetamine overdose during the Olympics. As a result, the International Olympic Council set up a medical committee in 1961, but no conclusion was reached until the unanimous condemnation of doping at the 1964 Olympic congress. Despite this ban, the usage of many drugs continued – in 1970, after it was discovered that the top three medalists in the first three weight classes at the Weightlifting World Championships had all used stimulants, the testing was cancelled and the winners reinstated. In 1972, Jay Sylvester took an unofficial poll of the US Olympic track and field team, finding that 68% of the members had used anabolic steroids. However, in 1973, Dr. Roger Bannister (head of the British Sports Council) announced the development of tests for anabolic steroids – as a result, it was announced in 1974 that testing for anabolic steroids would take place at the 1976 Olympic games.7 Since then, the drugs available have continued to evolve, with the tests for them always one step behind.