Competitive Doping

The amazingly muscular body of Ben Johnson, leaving Carl Lewis and others behind; a stunning 9.79 seconds timing at the Seoul Olympics 100 meters sprint; Ben Johnson being hustled along by security guards from the Olympic Village. The images will not blur for any one who saw them live on television in 1988.

East Germany had managed it ,it is said, for long, from Leipzig.

But the real story of steroids and sports begins, for most avid fans from that dramatic moment at Seoul. A visual treat of human triumph, followed by disbelief,devastation and despair and indignation, Ben Johnson’s was the equivalent of Caesar’s death in the Roman Senate. Many voices must have muttered, “ What a Fall…” mimicking Antony. Florence Griffith-Joyner, popularly known as Flo-Jo, reigned unrivalled in women’s sprints for some years before dying suddenly aged 38 owing to epileptic seizure; but though she never tested positive, it was widely held that she used steroids and hastened her retirement upon the introduction of random drug-testing. Her death also is attributed to drug-abuse, but the belief is not supported by evidence. A popular cyclist who made the Tour de France virtually his own, Lance Armstrong, has over the years faced allegations of steroid abuse, but without a decisive conclusion.

Indian athletes have tested positive for steroids on occasions. The story of Sini Jose ,Ashwini Akkunji , the Ukranian coach and others in the past ten days has been a major scandal comparable to the Raja, Maran, Kani case. Kunjurani Devi, the star weight-lifter and one woman shuttler have experienced the mortification of testing positive during their sports career.

What compels a sportsman, an athlete to resort to drug-abuse?

The glory and fame of victory and the great amounts of prize money to be won . The headiness, of these allurements is so high that it suspends judgement and encourages cut-throat competition. There is a sense in which one can speak of a career in sport as a neck-or nothing gamble. But, even a gambler tries to play to win, not to lose, and his stakes are ever so high. Athletes work very hard… and then, when the performance is not consistent with the desire, anabolic steroids, performance enhancing drugs make their grand entry with the flourish of trumpets, world records, gold medals and money.One throw of dice in a competitive, surcharged atmosphere makes a Ben Johnson or a Yudhishtira out of an ordinary mortal.

Competition, is the villain of the piece. While Nature allows a great variety to exist, it also allows a method by which ’power’ is asserted in an interesting equilibrium.

In human society, despite all attempts to civilize and ethicize, there is no real attempt to establish an equilibrium. The balancing act is pure theory , of an academic nature, bearing no relation to the corpulent imagination of the nature of power. Power is a desire that scythes like a scimitar through the apparent strength of ethical and humane values. This desire manifests itself through ‘competition’, the mantra of capitalism and market economy. It is a pathogen that runs virulently through human organizations, and pits one organization against all others. There is no ‘healthy’ competition one can talk about. Competition is a cancer, whether malignant or benign, and always undesirable. Evolved individuals should be able to present their best, not with a view to condescension for the ‘other’ but with a spirit of celebration of the best that one is capable of, even improvement of ones own performance through greater application. The straight and narrow , even arduous path is what we may hope to take. Lady Macbeth’s chastisement of Macbeth ‘with the valour of [her] tongue’, the sense of despair with which she lashes out at him for being unable ‘to catch the nearest way’ will not do for us.

Competitive doping is every athlete’s attempt to catch the nearest way. Unless competition as a concept is erased from the consciousness of the human race, the taint of doping will continue to blacken Ashwini Akkunji, Sini Jose.............................................................................................................….Kalmadi, Raja, and Kanimozhi.

Remember, Raja and Kanimozhli ,Maran and Kalmadi are competing for power, and are on a steroid-high much higher than Ben Johnson or Ashwini. Only Hitler and Chengiz Khan went higher.