Top level professional sport. Can it ever be 'Clean'?
Discussion
People cheat even when there is no money invovled, my 10 year old niece cheats at every board game she plays!
People will always want to beat another person in a competitive context, its human nature and can probably be traced back to the hunter survival instinct!. If a sportsman cant do it through natural training, they will look to an artificial source of performance enhancement.
But if the same equipment is not available to all participants though, even that could be construed as a performance enhancement favouring one person over another.
Take track bikes for example, Chris Hoy had the very best, aero tested, computer modelled bike possible and as per UCI rules it was available to everyone but at a cost. Few people could afford it so they had to rely on alternative bikes. Sure they could mirror his training programme but they couldnt have the same equipemnt. Who knows what advantage the bike gave him? probably marginal but if you took two cyclists capable of producing equal power figures, gave one a crap bike and another the Sir Chris special, its not hard to work out who would win.
Matthew Syed's book "Bounce" is worth reading as it shows how a natural set of ciircumstances can create a champion. He has a brother (twin?) and to give them something to do, their father bought a table tennis set. Without realising it at the time, they also lived in the same town or county as an ex national coach so when Matt decided to join a club, he had access to great coaching and, in his brother, a willing competitor to practice against. I think Matt was multiple champion.
People will always want to beat another person in a competitive context, its human nature and can probably be traced back to the hunter survival instinct!. If a sportsman cant do it through natural training, they will look to an artificial source of performance enhancement.
But if the same equipment is not available to all participants though, even that could be construed as a performance enhancement favouring one person over another.
Take track bikes for example, Chris Hoy had the very best, aero tested, computer modelled bike possible and as per UCI rules it was available to everyone but at a cost. Few people could afford it so they had to rely on alternative bikes. Sure they could mirror his training programme but they couldnt have the same equipemnt. Who knows what advantage the bike gave him? probably marginal but if you took two cyclists capable of producing equal power figures, gave one a crap bike and another the Sir Chris special, its not hard to work out who would win.
Matthew Syed's book "Bounce" is worth reading as it shows how a natural set of ciircumstances can create a champion. He has a brother (twin?) and to give them something to do, their father bought a table tennis set. Without realising it at the time, they also lived in the same town or county as an ex national coach so when Matt decided to join a club, he had access to great coaching and, in his brother, a willing competitor to practice against. I think Matt was multiple champion.
Off Road cycling now rocked by "motor" scandal.
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/fr...
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/fr...
No bit surprise at all really, it's been technically feasible for years, in fact I think the era of mechanical doping has come and gone already on the road; however cx is the perfect discipline for such skulduggery, due to damage and crap build up, you can swap bikes a number of times during the event. If it stops these cheating cyclists for sticking syringes in their veins I'm all for it.
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