Doping in sport

As a keen fan and follower of lots of sports it's extremely disheartening to read - week in, week out - about doping allegations, testing, confessions or tribunals. It was especially sad, this week, to read (and watch) the tearful confession of Marion Jones, as she admitted to using tetrahydrogestrinone (THG) during her 2000/2001 athletic supremacy.

It has now become commonplace for accusations or discoveries of drug-taking to be made in sport. I find it so difficult to comprehend the rationale of someone like Jones who was a devotee to the sport, a tireless trainer and exceptionally talented exponent in a number of highly competetive disciplines. All I can think is that external pressures of competition and expectation forced her to resort to 'assistance' in an effort to prevail at any cost. Like the Chambers scandal, I feel very sorry for the relay members (who performed with jones) who will now be stripped of medals they were awarded in good faith and as a result of years of hard work.

It's a worrying sign. Sport is, obviously, a multi-billion dollar 'industry' where performance - and ultimately results - mean money. Just like Abramovich tried (and succeeded to an extent) to "buy" a winning football team at Chelsea; Jones tried to buy herself victory with the use of banned substances. I just pray that American Football doesn't take the lead, where players readily and openly use performance-enhancing 'products'.

The scariest part for me is that drug use in sport is very much like virus development and deployment online. The laboratories (or virus hackers) can develop or invent new drugs (or viruses) before the drug-testers (or security firms) can introduce and implement detection procedures. It's going to be a long road ahead for sport and, like Formula 1, it'll be a prescribed procession of the underhand car at the front with the car representing fairness following - and always remaining - behind...