Preview

Athletes Dope Case Study

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
883 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Athletes Dope Case Study
Today nearly every athlete in bicycle racing dopes. This started a long time ago. But why do athletes dope even though they know that it isn’t fair and really bad for their body? To answer this question the paper will investigate why athletes dope by using the game theory and especially the prisoners dilemma. I will start with describing the prisoner’s dilemma, and then continue with doping in bicycle racing and apply it on the prisoner’s dilemma.

Different games theories study strategic interaction in sports. Strategic Interaction is when someone else is thinking similar at the same time and same situation (Dixit & Skeath, 1999).Therefore each person’s choice depends on the choice of others (Chwe, 2013). The analysis of such interactive decision
…show more content…
During that time the athletes didn’t know whether the others will dope or not. Over the time more and more people decided to dope as, a good outcome was only possible with doping. When one person dopes and the others not, only the person who dopes has an advantage. When everyone dopes, everyone has the same advantage and chose the strategy with which he can only be better than the others, which is the Nash-Equilibrium. Nevertheless not doping would be a better solution, as it would avoid damaging the health state and the image of the bicycle sport. Each player would have an equal chance of winning (0.5) and furthermore an outcome with a higher value (Table 1). When both decide to dope the outcome is less (0.25) as each player damages his health and might be expelled by the authority (Table 1). Nowadays everyone dopes, which has the effect that each athlete tries to have a more effective dope and one that can´t be recognised by the …show more content…
Each athlete dopes because his competitors dope. It is a vicious circle that can only be broken, when the athletes make a consensus that no one dopes. This requires a high level of trust, as usually every athlete prefers the dominant strategy, to be better than the others independent what strategy he chooses. The end of doping in bicycle racing would have a lot of positive results. Primary the athletes would stop damaging their bodies and would start to be measured by their real performance. The sport would be fair, which would also increase its image.

References
Chwe, M. S.-Y. (2013). Jane Austen, game theorist. Princeton and Oxford:Princeton University Press.
Dixit, A., & Skeath, S. (1999). Games of Strategy. W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Dr Jana, M. (2012, June 29). Doping part of professional cyclings`s culture. Retrieved November 02, 2014, from The Sport Digest: http://thesportdigest.com/2012/06/doping-part-of-professional-cyclings-culture/
Levine, K. D. (n.d.). What is Game Theory. Retrieved November 02, 2014, from Economic and Game Theory:

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Why We Run Analysis

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Next, former cyclist Jonathan Vaughters talks about doping, and how before he decided to dope, and his mindset on when he did decide to dope. Vaughters, on page 90, states, ¨Now imagine that you've paid the dues, you've done the work, you've got the talent, and your…

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Stripping Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles for doping was a harsh blow to athletics.Armstrong’s case was a milestone in the history of sports: it marked the time when society’s worst fears came true . For years, coaches and athletes alike have been finding ways to twist the latest scientific developments for their benefit. Performance-enhancing drugs, particularly those that can slip past drug detection tests, have become prevalent in the world of sports. While some argue that sports cannot move forward without performance-enhancing drugs, the majority views doping as unethical.…

    • 913 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    As children, many people are introduced to the famous quote by late National Football League coach, Vince Lombardi, which is "winning isn 't everything; it 's the only thing" (Voy 204). Sports have always been about winning; however, some professional and amateur athletes take this simple saying too literally and it changes their outlook on their profession. As high school and even middle school athletes, they start to take drugs in order to be accepted, or to better their performance on the playing field (Louria n.pag). Once theses athletes reach the college level; they experiment, and are surrounded by even more drugs in order to get any advantage. It is not fair that one athlete can work hard in order to improve his performance, but then have another athlete improve more than him due to being wired on cocaine or bulked up on steroids. Also, Robert Voy states that drug use today is the biggest threat to the Olympics ideal, thus the Olympics and many other professional organizations are turning to drug testing. Testing is a huge controversy today because many believe that it violates one 's right of privacy; however, if there is no testing, many athletes will continue to have an unfair advantage to non drug users (180). Furthermore, it injures the user because it will result in mood changes, and it will hurt their health, if not immediately, then it will later on in their life. The chance of being caught using drugs is so small compared to the achievements one will have while using drugs which is so vast. No athlete should have an unfair advantage, these advantages only promote drug use, which many athletes believe it is a necessary means in today 's time. The only way to have the use of drugs decrease is to have mandatory drug testing across the board for all athletes.…

    • 2701 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    With all the hard work it takes to become a professional athlete, this is why athletes who cheat, let alone dope, should undoubtedly be stripped of all the medals/awards…

    • 915 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In “The Doping Dilemma”, Michael Shermer writes about the consequences and the ethics behind performance enhancing substances in professional sports. He begins with an anecdote, which describes the feeling of getting “dropped by your competitors on a climb” (420:2). As described by the author in the development of the story, every athlete has a genetic limitation that regular training cannot exceed (421:4). According to Shermer, the only thing to be done is to dope. Arguing that, in order for an individual to stay competitive nowadays, he needs to make use of performance enhancing substances. Shermer concludes that today’s drugs are better, harder to test, and the incentives usually favor them (421:8/422:9). The author effectively argues that there should be a direct shift on the incentives regarding sports doping. His experience read as a reflective narrative to young competitors who are now starting,…

    • 956 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the world of cheating sports there are many different views of what's right, wrong and just out right unexceptable. Sports are very competitive by nature so many athletes choose to use whatever means necessary to be better than the next guy. Some think that it's just the nature of the game, but others think that it's a disgrace to the world of sports. Lance Armstrong is a great example of this, he used performance enhancing drugs to quickly make him the best pro-cycler in the world. He has won numerous medals and awards, outside of cycling he is a more than respectable person, he has personally funded numerous cancer studies, donated to charities and bettered the lives of many in the world.…

    • 908 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This would be persistent with resources and a spectrum of alternative performance boosting technologies currently used today. However, in the article, “The Fight Against Doping,” by IOC (International Olympics Committee) president Juan Samaranch, he argues that, “Doping is not only a danger for the health of athletes, it also constitutes a form of cheating which we cannot accept” (190). As the leader of a major organization, Samaranch uses this powerful and passionate statement to show the reader that the IOC takes the issue of performance enhancing drugs in sports seriously and will not grant any leeway. The use of this quote to counter Fry’s point presented in his article has sufficiently persuaded the audience into taking Samaranch side on the topic simply due to the credibility Samaranch has acquired over the years. Overall, Samaranch has done a stand up job utilizing the rhetorical strategy of ethos and pathos in order to strengthen his views regarding the use of performance enhancing drugs in high-leveled…

    • 595 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Because sports are very important to many people, and have been since the days of the Romans, there is much pride and honor in sports; however, there is something that has tainted the image of sports and athletes alike: performance-enhancing drugs. These drugs come in substances, chemical agents and are used in medical procedures which provide the user with an advantage in athletic performance (Encarta, 2007.)…

    • 1192 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Through the history of sports there has always been cheating. Cheating in sports has always been a topic for conversations, controversy and debates. It seems that cheating currently is at the highest point, and will not go down anytime soon. With the fast development of technology and medical science it seems that drug use in sports will increase. The line between acceptable and unacceptable will be harder to determine as it takes time to make proper tests. There are various different motives for someone to cheat. Some sportsmen cheated because of the pressure to be the best. Some cheated for money and some of them cheat because they simply want to have fun. Regardless of the reasons, it seems that the cheating has only increased and will continue to increase even more as…

    • 1066 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport has become a huge issue in all modern codes of sport. In the recent 2012 Olympic games in London, it was suggested that as many as 60% of the athletes were taking illegal drugs. You only have to open the newspaper or turn on the television to discover a new batch of professional athletes that have been caught ‘doping’. Although athletes are regularly drug tested, there have been multiple cases where athletes have been able to cheat the system and return negative results. Australia has been a front-runner in the fight against sports doping, and has even established a…

    • 1676 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Drug Testing in Athletes

    • 857 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Many people do not see the severity of drug use in professional and High School athletics. Drug use in professional athletics is looked upon as somewhat of a serious problem, but also very discrete and low key. Every once in a while and individual might see a prominent figure in a certain sport being reprimanded for the use of an outlawed drug. However , that athlete may just be one of the many who happened to get caught. Athletes today seem to find no moral problem with using performance-enhancing drugs, or in other words, cheating. Athletes feel that because they are "stars" there should be no repercussions for their illegal activity. Today, drug use in sports has reached enormous proportions in society and destroying athletics from the ground up. The use of steroids and other performance enhancement drugs also effects athletes at the high school level. It does not matter how good the athlete is, a zero-tolerance policy should be in place at all levels of competition.…

    • 857 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Some people say that the only way that athletes will stop using the drugs is if they get a lifetime ban from the sport they love playing. The complicity of medical professionals and shadowy labs are often involved. Corruption in general has and also doping are ubiquitous in both amauter and professional sports. It has taken the character of a symmetric threat. A lot of athletes that are serious about the sport is that you will do anything to win and the competitive sport can be fierce.…

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Doping In Sports

    • 355 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Baseball is the first sport that comes to one’s mind when doping in sports is brought up. Doping is also common in cycling, wrestling, bodybuilding, swimming, and running. These sports take an immense amount of strength and stamina. On top of that, athletes are pushed over the edge to exceed greatness in the competitive world. The average amateur player does not feel the need to enhance their abilities because they play for the love of the game. On the other hand, competitive athletes want to be noticed. They want to be the best they can be, along with the best on their…

    • 355 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It always raises an eye when an average athlete suddenly becomes the fastest or the strongest in their sport; in many cases they have stopped depending on talent and now rely on a performance- enhancing drug for success. Substance abuse in sports is shown to be common because of their benefits, various scandals in the media, and new polices companies have now had to implement. The act of "doping" or the use of an enhancing-drug has become a social norm though out all sports.…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Athletes that choose to use PEDs are in danger of being in serious trouble if caught. Privileges and awards that were given to them before could easily be deprived of them. It is not worth the risks being taken to consume harmful drugs.…

    • 400 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays