LEADER

Performance enhancing drugs

Why we should allow performance enhancing drugs in sport

J Savulescu¹, B Foddy² and M Clayton²

¹ Uehiro Chair of Practical Ethics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
² Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Professor Savulescu
Flat 2, 3 Bradmore Road, Oxford OX2 6QW, UK; julian.savulescu@philosophy.ox.ac.uk

---

The legalisation of drugs in sport may be fairer and safer

---

Abbreviations: EPO, erythropoietin; PCV, packed cell volume

Keywords: performance enhancing drugs

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

In 490 BC, the Persian Army landed on the plain of Marathon, 25 miles from Athens. The Athenians sent a messenger named Feidipides to Sparta to ask for help. He ran the 150 miles in two days. The Spartans were late. The Athenians attacked and, although outnumbered five to one, were victorious. Feidipides was sent to run back to Athens to report victory. On arrival, he screamed "We won" and dropped dead from exhaustion.

The marathon was run in the first modern Olympics in 1896, and in many ways the athletic ideal of modern athletes is inspired by the myth of the marathon. Their ideal is superhuman performance, at any cost.

The use of performance enhancing drugs in the modern Olympics is on record as early as the games of the third Olympiad, when Thomas Hicks won the marathon after receiving an injection of strychnine in the . . . [Full text of this article]

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Fuller, C W, Ward, C J (2008). An empirical approach for defining acceptable levels of risk: a case study in team sports. Inj. Prev. 14: 256-261 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Kayser, B., Smith, A. C T (2008). Globalisation of anti-doping: the reverse side of the medal. BMJ 337: a584-a584 [Full Text]  
• Savulescu, J, Foddy, B (2005). Sports ethics: an anthology. Br. J. Sports. Med. 39: 686-687 [Full Text]