Abstract

Sport is thought of as an activity that is governed by a set of rules and that which is engaged in competitively, while doping is the idea of using banned natural or synthetic substance for the purpose of enhancing sports performance. Sports goes beyond a measure of athletic excellence and the winning of trophies, medals and cash awards has become a pride to the nation and sports persons. Sports teach us about honest endeavour, commitment and fair play. The use of performance enhancement drugs is very harmful to the body. Doping in sports is not a new phenomenon; athletes have taken performance-enhancing agents since the beginning of time. The ancient Olympics in Greece were riddled with doping. In ancient Rome, gladiators drank herbal infusions to strengthen them before chariot races. The first doping death occurred in 1886 in cycling. In the early 1900, the popular doping agent was a cocktail of alcohol and strychnine. The use of performance-enhancing drugs is a form of cheating, that is quite widespread and common in sports. Performance-enhancing drugs such as stimulants, anabolic steroids, diuretics, β-blockers, etc are harmful to the health. Despite harmful effects, the sports persons are using drugs to become famous and rich. Performance enhancement may be attained fairly through good dietary nutrition and effective training and recovery programmes. Athletes require good dietary advice from early on in their career to achieve high-level sports performance. Sports must be doping-free and performance must be achieved through scientific sports coaching. Sports and games must be played in a fair manner.