Who wins in the fight against doping

In the last decades of doping scandals in professional sports Does not hardly more often to buy meldonium online usa than the outstanding victories of the athletes. The use of illicit drugs and their control - one of the major and extremely painful problems of Russian and world sport. This has been proven and the latest developments: the Russian national team in athletics suspended from participation in all international competitions. The scandal involved not only athletes, but also coaches, doctors, officials said. Now we are talking about the reform of the All-Russian Athletics Federation. At stake is the performance at the Olympic Games in Brazil and other major competitions. In the first half of January he visited Moscow committee of the International Association of Athletics Federations. A new meeting, the results of which should be assessed the readiness of Russian athletes to the reforms planned for the end of January.

That is considered doping and why doping in sport is difficult to eradicate - in special projects TASS.

From garlic to amphetamines

Athletes started using a drug when the sport is still only beginning to identify and award the winners. In the ancient Greek Olympic Games are no restrictions on doping existed. Athletes used everything that supposedly helped to achieve better results. According to historians, in the course we were light wine, a variety of hallucinogens, sesame seeds, and even garlic. In ancient Rome, where they were popular races on chariots, riders do not only used different stimulating infusions, but also treated to their horses.

The word "doping" came into use in the XIX century, it comes from the English verb to dope - offering drugs. In fact, the first serious doping and steel narcotic drugs - cocaine and even heroin, which were not allowed to use (as athletes, and citizens are far from physical education) up to 20-ies of the last century. However, the first mass consumers of doping in its new meaning became all the same horse, which in those years before the United States stimulated jumps.

However, and athletes are not permitted if done without drugs. Even in 1886 the first official fatality of doping, was recorded, and in 1904 there was a paradigmatic episode, when at the Olympics in the US St. Louis local marathon runner Thomas Hicks, far ahead of the competition, suddenly fell exhausted shortly before the finish. Coaches twice, just as hiding stimulated athlete with a mixture of brandy with strychnine. Athlete eventually became an Olympic champion, but just have not said goodbye to life in a hospital bed.

The first attempt to ban doping dates back to 1928. It was then that the charter of the International Athletics Federation (IAAF) at a congress in Amsterdam for the first time anti-doping rule was introduced in the history of the sport, according to which for the use of stimulants for improving athletic performance, or help in the face expulsion from the sport - both professional and amateur . However, the new rule no one noticed: methods and tools to catch the "unclean" athletes have appeared much later.

Race with death

This doping boom occurred in the postwar years. The discovery of the pharmacological properties of amphetamines and their stimulating effect occurred in 1929. They were widely used during the Second World War, but it was no use and in peacetime. Amphetamines are widely used in sports, they were used by all teams and national teams at major tournaments, including the Olympic Games. It was in those years started the synthesis of new, more modern drugs. Thus, the American physician John Ziegler at the end of the 50s invented the first anabolic steroid "Dianabol". Even now, this drug can be easily purchased under the name "Dianabol" - was the invention of Ziegler so successful.

A series of unfortunate incidents marked the 60s. They were connected primarily with the cycling - a very energy-consuming sport where riders for hours working at full capacity, often under the sweltering heat. In 1960, right at the time of the Olympic 100-kilometer road race in Rome died Dane Knut Jensen. And in 1967 in one of the stages of the legendary "Tour de France" died Briton Tommy Simpson. The latter was a very famous cyclist and did not conceal that uses amphetamines. Crazy loads the body simply could not resist.

The tragic death of Simpson, which also happened almost live on TV, dramatically changed the attitude to doping. Also in 1967 the IOC established a medical commission for the fight against doping, and has already started serious test next year. It was compiled the first list of banned drugs for use by athletes, and, most importantly, implemented methods for their detection. Attempts to identify doping lovers have been made yet on the summer Olympic Games 1964 in Tokyo (following the case of Jensen), but the actual mechanisms to identify fraudulent athletes in those years did not exist.

There is a record of the world anti-doping services and extensive white spots. For example, and not athletes from East Germany who systematically consumed doping in different sports were punished. The socialist part of Germany, creation and introduction of prohibited anabolic and other drugs was carried out at the national level, as evidenced by the disclosed after reunification archives (including the Stasi secret police) and the recognition of sports officials of the country in those years.

East German swimmers and athletes showed the highest results in 70-80-ies of the last century, the system was so fine-tuned that they fell on doping athletes from the GDR is extremely rare. This was largely due to the low level of the then existing tests athletes to use banned substances.

Recalls four-time Olympic champion, president of the Russian Swimming Federation (WWF), Vladimir Salnikov, in those years, he and his partners in the USSR national team could only guess competitors dishonesty. "The problem of doping in the years of my career just brewing We could only guess about it on circumstantial evidence -. He said he -. First of all, it concerned the athletes from the GDR Their athletes were actually much more powerful than our girls All this caused astonishment and some.. suspicion. But no one felt the depth of the problem "at the time.

But the implications for athletes who are victims of the GDR sports system, were unpredictable. The use of steroids in adolescence affected the health of athletes, as well as the hormonal functions of the body. The example of shot-putter Heidi Krieger, who eventually went to a sex change operation to become Andreas Krieger - payback for a drug became transsexuality.

Punishment for athletes GDR mass doping was not followed, but were found guilty and convicted several doctors and sports officials. In the role of victims and witnesses were many former athletes, including Krieger. The defendants were found guilty of involvement in harm to the health of 142 athletes, including minors.