For subscribers
Sporting Life
A Games with no drug testing! Would you watch?
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
Ben Foster as disgraced former American cyclist Lance Armstrong in the 2015 film The Program.
PHOTO: SHAW ORGANISATION
Follow topic:
The quest for victory is an ancient and occasionally tasteless urge. Nero, Roman emperor and charioteer, reportedly quaffed a potion of wild boar manure. Runners at the 1896 Olympic marathon sipped pre-race beer. In modern times steroids have been washed down with Chivas Regal. Winning is the ultimate drug.
Faster, Higher, Stronger, Smarter can be a mission with a tinge of madness. Even fishermen con, Paralympians misrepresent their abilities and chess players cheat. The 2020 World Anti-Doping Agency report states 149,758 samples (less than normal because of Covid-19) were taken and 672 resulted in an Anti-Doping Rule Violation. They came from 67 sports and 91 nations and represented the tip of a tainted iceberg.
