Cheaters have historically been one of the most negative aspects of sports. Baseball, football, soccer, and almost every major sport have had their fair share of cheaters, but due to the grueling physical demands of endurance sports, no two sports have been more plagued with foul play than track & field and cycling. In recent years, cheating in the form of steroids and blood doping has become much easier to detect, but this hasn’t always been the case. Historically, it’s speculated that many of the greatest athletes to ever compete in track and cycling cheated, but it’s difficult to confirm. Today, many seeking a clean sport pose the question, should athletes who’ve cheated be forced to forfeit their medals? My short answer is absolutely. When it comes to forfeiting records, it gets a little bit more complicated.
As a fairly competitive runner, I know how difficult it is to rise to the top of the sport, and the sheer amount of hard work and dedication required to become successful. Some dedicate their lives to these sports, while others cheat their way to the top. It is simply unethical to allow cheaters to be considered champions.
A world-famous example of cheating in cycling comes at the expense of Lance Armstrong. Lance Armstrong was a 7 time Tour de France champion and one of the most dominant athletes the world has ever seen. After an incredible rise to fame and success, Armstrong’s use of performance-enhancing drugs was discovered and his medals, records, and reputation were stripped of him. Another prominent example, this time in track and field, hails from the 100m dash. Ben Johnson, a rising track star at the time, defeated Carl Lewis in the 100m final at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. 3 days later, Johnson tested positive for anabolic steroids. His gold medal was swiftly removed, he was banned from the sport, and his world record was revoked. The examples of Lance Armstrong and Ben Johnson are two fantastic examples of how cheating athletes should be handled. The problem now lies in the difficulty of tracing modern steroids.
Switching gears and looking at the MLB, one of the greatest baseball players of all time, Barry Bonds is a confirmed steroid user. His most successful 6 seasons were fueled by steroid use. Despite all of this, Bonds holds numerous MLB records and is widely considered one of the greatest players to ever play the sport. This recognition and status in the sport is permitted because the MLB didn’t begin to crack down on steroid use until 2003. This allowed Bonds to dominate the sport without consequence. Similarly, World Athletics(track & field) didn’t ban steroid use until 1967, even so, it took another 9 years for them to ban anabolic steroids. Although steroids were “banned” post-1976, the tests were not accurate or advanced. This leads me to records in sports. Some of the greatest athletic feats in the history of track and cycling were achieved from 1950 through 1980. While it is an unfortunate reality, at this time cheating was a massive part of both sports. Many look back on this time and argue records must be discredited, but since cheating was a legitimate part of the sport, I argue that we must leave the history alone.
Gonchar, Michael. “Should Athletes Who Dope Have to Forfeit Their Titles and Medals?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 30 Oct. 2012, archive.nytimes.com/learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/30/should-athletes-who-dope-have-to-forfeit-their-titles-and-medals/.
“Ben Johnson’s 9.79: A World Record-Sized Scandal in Seoul | NBC Sports.” YouTube, YouTube, 12 Apr. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD17llSlygk&ab_channel=NBCSports.
Macramalla, Eric. “The Case against Barry Bonds Getting into the Hall of Fame.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 12 Oct. 2022, www.forbes.com/sites/ericmacramalla/2022/01/25/the-case-against-barry-bonds-getting-into-the-hall-of-fame/?sh=44db7754114a.