Weeding out Olympic doping cheats won’t actually end inequity in sport

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Another Olympics, another battle to catch the dopers (see, How does the Olympics test for doping and is it good enough?). But why do we get so hung up on the use of performance-enhancing drugs anyway?

There are many reasons to combat them. One is that sport should be, well, sporting. People tune in to see the best of the best clash, and we like to feel there is a level playing field.

When it comes to stopping athletes gaining an unfair advantage, it makes sense to target doping. There are also health reasons for cracking down, with concerns over the long-term abuse of substances such as anabolic steroids.

But sport is rife with inequalities that we don’t always think about. A nation’s Olympic success correlates with two big factors: the size of its population and its GDP. In swimming, for example, bodily features, such as hypermobile knees and ankles paired with big feet and hands, can help people like British multi-medallist Adam Peaty go faster. A nation is more likely to find someone like him if they have a larger population to choose from.

Meanwhile, richer nations can afford to pay athletes to concentrate on their sport, as well as supply the best diet, equipment and coaches. The result is that the big, high-income countries tend to get more medals. That isn’t cheating, but it is unfair.

This inequity feeds back into the doping issue, as people from wealthier countries can more easily afford the latest body-boosting substances, so doping exaggerates the advantages they already have. This also means plans for an Enhanced Games in 2025 – in which all athletes could openly use drugs to push their bodies to their limits – wouldn’t solve anything. Aside from potential health risks, it would just cement the wealth-related imbalance.

We like to think that sporting prowess is all down to talent and determination, but when viewed objectively the odds are already stacked. We have become fixated on doping because it is measurable and the fight against it feels scientific, yet even if we eliminate it, we won’t get rid of inequality in sport.

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