Dying to Win

In the ancient Mediterranean world, athletes were honored and rewarded with prestige, status and riches. Today it is no different. For world class athletes, especially those who win Olympic gold medals, the rewards of winning are enormous, emotionally, socially and financially. But there is a darker side to the quest for glory—doping. Performance enhancing drugs are an integral part of sports today. Many athletes cannot compete against doping rivals without doping themselves. But the price they pay is high—sometimes even their lives. This episode of Investigative Reports looks at the problem of drug use in athletics, and the toll it takes on the athletes. Dying to win would be useful for classes on Athletics, Science and Technology, Drug Awareness and Biology. It is appropriate for middle school and high school.

OBJECTIVES

Students will learn the dangers of drug use in athletics. They will explore the pressure for athletes to improve their performances and the physical damage drugs such as anabolic steroids inflict on the body.

• Anabolic
• Clandestine
• Complicity
• Confound
• Espoused
• Hallucinogen
• Humiliate
• Inundate
• Kinesiology
• Litigious
• Perennial
• Sordid

1. Everyone loves a winner. Discuss how winning is an integral part of American culture. How does our society reward winners?

2. We hold our athletes in high esteem. What is the role of athletes in our society? Why are they so revered? What are some examples of athletes being put on a pedestal?

3. Discuss some of the pressures athletes face, especially the expectations of victory.

4. Doping takes a serious toll on the body. Discuss the dangers of drug use in athletics and in other areas.

5. What are some of the methods that are used to try to control doping?

6. Why are athletes who use performance-enhancing drugs called "dirty athletes?"

7. What are Olympic ideals? How does doping undermine these ideals?

8. Athletes using performance-enhancing drugs are not new. Discuss the history of athletic doping.

9. Discuss the incidence of Ben Johnson's Olympic victory and the stripping of his gold medal.

10. How did the East German doping scandal become public?

11. Sports are often a forum of politics. Discuss the political implications of sports.

12. Why do many athletes who use drugs test negative?

13. Compare athletic doping with street doping. Are they different? If so, why? If not, why not?

14. What are some ways to prevent athletic doping.

1. Create a poster against athletic doping.

2. Research the history of the Olympics (or a single Olympic event) and create (using the medium of your choice, such as a poster, mobile, etc.) a visual display of your data.

Related Videos

Primary Sources

• The Olympic Movement Anti-Doping Code, http://www.olympic.org/ioc/e/org/medcom/pdf/doping_code_e.pdf