By: Mallory Marsicek
Blood boosters are a common drug in cycling, they increase your blood’s oxygen-carrying capacity above it’s normal capacity. Erythroporetin (EPO), the drug Lance Armstrong used, is a type of blood booster. EPO is a naturally occurring hormone that makes the production of red blood cells possible. Athletes inject the hormone back into their blood stream, allowing their body to create more red blood cells. It increases aerobic capability by allowing more air to the lungs and other muscles.
Blood Doping is performance enhancing therefore it’s cheating. I had watched a documentary on Lance Armstrong and they state that without doping, he would have never come close to winning the Tour de France. He did it to win at any cost. The specialists had continued to test his blood and found traces of EPO in it. They stripped him of every medal he ever won.
Cheating is cheating and there should be consequences for it. Armstrong had deliberately lied to everyone’s face about never taking drugs to enhance his performance. Even though these drugs are banned, people still find a way to use them and get away with it. In a few years, I don’t think that will be possible anymore for the old drugs, but then they may come out with new drugs that can’t be detected yet, so it’s a never ending circle.
http://globalsportsdevelopment.org/2014/03/28/doping-methods/
Global Sport Issues 