Using Drugs to Enhance Performance is Cheating

          

          Swimming is not really known for having bad boys or drama outside of the pool. Speaking as someone who views sports and consumes most information from living in the United States, I don’t hear much from the sport. Michael Phelps and the Summer Olympic games are the only reason, for the most part, that my curiosity is peaked about what is going on in swimming. Yet, the reason I dedicated a brief space and time for swimming has nothing to do with either.

            Sun Yang, a swimmer from China, won gold in the 400m freestyle event in the championships in South Korea. Sun was caught using a performance enhancement drug (PED). He tested positive for a banned stimulant, trimetazidine, in 2014. Mack Horton, an Australian swimmer and Olympic gold medalist from Rio, was not happy with the result and did not stand on the podium along side his competitor. Horton took silver in the race but was clearly upset that he lost to someone who he has called a cheat in the past.

            The drama further escalated as some swimmers sided with Horton’s action on not shaking hands or posing pictures with Sun Yang. Sun was not happy and stated that it was unfortunate.

            This is some high-level drama considering I don’t necessarily follow swimming and tend to be associated with the masses who only care about the sport every four years. The reason this story piqued my interest was because of the view on drugs within the sport by athletes. I am in the camp where I think that athletes should be allowed to use PEDs, but in a regulated and safe manner. I am aware that my view is not widely accepted as the ethical pathway, but I do have reasons at the structural level of sport that shape my view. However, that debate shall be revisited at another time.

            The significant aspect of this event outside of the pool shares the view on how swimmers view their competitors who used PEDs. They are cheaters. They broke the rules and therefore are cheaters, simple. I do not disagree with Mack Horton’s camp and think he is right to complain. The reason I bring this up because it is fascinating to see who the athletes view PED users. Granted their reaction is not a real surprise as I doubt anyone enjoys losing a competition to someone who did not contest fairly, but that the protest from Horton is a moment in sport history that should be remembered for the larger debate.