Doping exists throughout Sport
bridgeman said:
Not so much these days, but I am wondering what they took during the 60's to present day. I'm NOT a fan, but I am curious what those guys took back then from a historical perspective and how did it compare to other sporting disciplines. The first guys ran shine, this much I know.
1. In the late 60s , 70s, and 80s The East Germans gave their young female swimmers (aged 13 or so) the anabolic steroid Oral Turinabol and injections of testosterone. Most of these athletes were lied to about the drugs and told they were vitamins. The swimmers won a ton of medals in Olympic and World championships. They were eventually caught. Many of the swimmers had negative health erffects suchs as liver cancer, organ damage, and inferitlity. After 1989 a fund was set up in Germany proper of $2.8 M to compensate the athletes. So many athletes applied that each athlete only got about $10,000. One swimmer Carola Nitschke returned her Olympic medals voluntarily and asked her name be removed from the record books. You rarely see that kind of class today.
2. In 1983 the Pan Am Games came up with a new test for steriods and a ton of athletes were caught especially weight lifters, and especially Canadian weigh lifters. Nineteen athletes were tested + for steroids.
3. In the 60s the TDF riders began to use amphetamines + alcohol, culminating in the tragic death of Tom Simpson in the 1967 Tour. He became so dehydrated he died. This should have been a huge warning to the peloton on subsequent drug use but it was not.
4. From 1988 to 2000 numerous US athletes were allowed to compete in the Olympics and international events in spite of positive tests before hand. Dr. Wade Exum in a US Olympic Committee Report blew the lid on this identifying 19 athletes who did so. It was pretty hypocritical of the US who were always publicly condemning drug use in sport.
PEDs are endemic across all sports, probably including NASCAR.