Drugs have been banned by sporting authorities as any athletes caught will face the punishment, here 5 athletes caught using drugs.
Using drugs to enhance performance in sports may lead to an athlete being banned and damage their health. Sporting authorities have banned athletes from using drugs and other substances, not just because they might give an athlete an unfair advantage but also because of the wider health risks.
Using drugs in sports undermines values like fair play and teamwork. When sportspeople use drugs, they not only might damage their own health, but they also give the sport a bad reputation and set a poor example to others.
In competitive sports, doping is the use of banned athletic performance-enhancing drugs by athletic competitors as a way of cheating in sports.
The term doping is widely used by organizations that regulate sporting competitions.
The use of drugs to enhance performance is considered unethical and therefore prohibited, by most international sports organizations, including the International Olympic Committee.
Furthermore, athletes (or athletic programs) taking explicit measures to evade detection exacerbate the ethical violation with overt deception and cheating.
Here are five athletes that were caught doing drugs.
Michael Phelps: Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985) is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds all-time records for Olympic medals in individual events. In February 2009, a photograph of Phelps using a bong went viral; this resulted in the loss of Kellogg’s as a sponsor, as well as a three-month suspension by USA Swimming. Phelps admitted that the photo, which was taken at a party at the University of South Carolina, was authentic. He publicly apologized, calling his behavior “inappropriate”
Dock Phillip: Dock Phillip Ellis Jr. was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from 1968 through 1979, most notably as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates teams that won five National League Eastern Division titles in six years between 1970 and 1975 and won the World Series in 1971. Ellis retired from baseball in the spring of 1980, saying that he lost interest in the game. That year, Ellis entered drug treatment, staying for 40 days at The Meadows in Wickenburg, Arizona. In 1984, he revealed that he had pitched his no-hitter under the influence of LSD.
Darryl Strawberry: Darryl Eugene Strawberry (born March 12, 1962) is an American former professional baseball right fielder and author who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Throughout his career, Strawberry was one of the most feared sluggers in the sport, known for his prodigious home runs and his intimidating presence in the batter’s box with his 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) frame and his long, looping swing that elicited comparisons to Ted Williams. On April 3, 1999, Strawberry was arrested in Tampa, Florida for soliciting sex from a policewoman posing as a prostitute and for having a small amount of cocaine. On April 24, he was suspended for 140 days by Major League Baseball for the incident. On May 29, he pleaded no contest to the charges and was sentenced to 21 months probation and community service.
Derek Boogaard: Derek Leendert Boogaard was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played for the Minnesota Wild and the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is addicted to prescription pain medication. A mix of oxycodone and alcohol led to his May 2011 death.
Diego Maradona: Diego Armando Maradona 30 October 1960 – 25 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the 20th Century award. Maradona’s vision, passing, ball control, and dribbling skills combined with his small stature, gave him a low center of gravity allowing him to maneuver better than most other players. From the mid-1980s until 2004, Maradona was addicted to cocaine. He allegedly began using the drug in Barcelona in 1983. By the time he was playing for Napoli, he had a full-blown addiction, which interfered with his ability to play football. Maradona was banned from football in both 1991 and 1994 for abusing drugs.
