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Wednesday, 3 July, 2002, 14:16 GMT 15:16 UK
Are some drugs acceptable?
Former middle-distance runner Ron Clarke, one of Australia's most revered sporting figures, launches a defence of drug use in sport.
Is Clarke talking sense?
The Australian Associated Press (AAP) quoted Clarke as saying athletes should be permitted to use performance-enhancing drugs, including steroids and EPO, as long as they didn't harm their health.
Clarke, a former multiple world record holder who retired in 1970, said athletes born at sea level should be allowed to use drugs to give them a fairer chance against competitors raised at altitude. Does Clarke have a point? Or should drugs in sport be roundly condemned?
This debate is now closed. A selection of your e-mails appear below. Under no circumstances should performance enhancing drugs be used in sport. It is cheating and leaves the majority of honest runners at a disadvantage.
As a runner myself, a member of a local running club who does several races from 5K to marathon, I could not look at myself in the mirror if I had taken any performing enhancing drug. If I run a good time, I run a good time. If I run a bad time, I run a bad time. However fast or slow I run I know that my race time is honest and true.
Isn't the whole point of athletics to test a person's physical abilities and not what a drug can do for someone? It was an irresponsible thing to say in my view.
In some sports drugs might as well be legal as they don't test for them at all. When did you ever hear of a tennis player being tested positive? A French female tennis star told the French press that she used steroids, and Spanish papers named two US women players as using creatine (banned in France), but oddly no one is ever banned. It seems that some sports take it seriously and others ignore it.
Athletes should be setting an example for young Athletes coming through the ranks and introduction of ANY KIND OF DRUG is simply unthinkable. Ron Clarke was a great athlete in his time. A sporting giant from that era should realise that drugs have tarnished the wonderful sport of athletics.
In years gone by athletes were 'clean' and this gave the sporting audience a reason to take a strong interest in the sport. Whenever a fine performance is seen now the question is always is that athlete doing it on his own? That is a shame.
Whatever he's on can I have some too?
Let's get real here, drugs are currently being employed openly in sport e.g. cortisone injections, painkillers etc. Maybe it's time to address the whole topic and either permit everything or have a blanket ban for everything. Don't shoot the messenger.
Has Clarke thought this through? Which substances, specifically? How much of a given substance, per body mass, will counter how much altitude advantage? It isn't cheating if it is all above board. I think it would need rigorous controls to work, however.
Ron Clarke's comments are quite irresponsible. Drugs do not belong in any sport, and no good can come out of legalising them. Presumably Clarke would also be happy if the applause and recognition for winning an event whilst under the influence of drugs was heaped upon the drug companies instead of the athletes. Because if Clarke has his way, the athlete would become a mere tool of competing drugs suppliers.
In the meantime, I'll give Clarke the benefit of the doubt and assume that he must be taking something which has a profound effect on common-sense. And if he isn't, then perhaps he should be.
It's time to revive amateur athletics, where winning brings no valuable reward. Then let the professionals take what they like. But once you're a professional, there's no going back to the amateur ranks. Ron Clarke has reacted to the fact that Australian athletes are the most tested athletes in the world across all sports. He is sick of seeing our best beaten by drug cheats from countries that are slack on testing their athletes.
Ron believes that on a level playing field, our athletes would be rewarded for their effort and ability. However, I don't think Ron's comments will change Australia's tough stance on drugs in sport. I also believe that in team sports, where drugs have less of an impact, Australia will continue to excel.
As someone involved in one of the most pilloried of sports - cycling - I think Ron Clarke is wrong. Having said that, I want to know when other sports are bringing in mandatory drugs and blood testing. At least cycling as a sport is fighting the scourge.
Why not? Athletics isn't just about 'natural ability,' it's about some incredibly complex technical training, too. Why is it that the use of drugs is considered cheating, whilst taking advantage of the latest advances in physiotherapy, sports psychology, training programs etc isn't?
The only distinction is that drugs are something athletes put "into" their bodies, rather than "onto" them - and for some reason we have a problem with that. It is all very well to say that taking anabolic steroids or EPO gives one athlete an unfair advantage over another, but surely genetics do precisely the same thing for those athletes we call "naturally gifted"?
Personally I do not agree with the legalisation of drugs in athletics. There are too many unknowns and there may be terrible effects on health. I do think though that previous posts are missing Clarke's point. He is not condoning cheating by those who currently use prohibited substances. He is saying that he believes that the drugs should not be banned, let everyone use what they want and see what can be achieved.
His argument is flawed as surely an athlete who was born at altitude will still be able to benefit from EPO as much as one who wasn't. Surely it will simply increase their already superior ability. This is sheer nonsense. The arguement is illogical and the reasoning completely flawed. Just because he was a champion athlete, doesn't stop him being a clown! This story should not get colomn inches. Surely the important debate that we should be having (and this distracts totally from any serious debate) relates to the total responsibility issues raised by the Scottish skier who took a nasal spray and had his bronze medal stripped.
The spray was fine in the UK but had something added to it in the US. There's something, that for me, goes against a sort of moral justice here. The authorities shouldn't legalise drug-taking but they should get real! No, never. Drugs have no place in sport. Athletes should win based on their ability and dedication to training. Not because they have the best scientist working in the background. To take drugs and win is cheating fellow athletes who elect to stay clean.
My advice to Ron Clarke is to go and talk to Olga Korbut, and see first hand what drugs did to the East Germans? The "War against Drugs" will never be won as it is a ridiculously hypocritical concept. Drug use is simply one form of enhancing performance (within an industry that has never been based upon a level playing field anyway). Pushing drugs underground simply perpetuates myth, lies and ill informed/dangerous use.
It needs bringing out in the open, understanding and controlling so that everyone knows where they stand and can make educated/informed decisions re their use. Are we that naive that we think some/any elite athletes don't use any sort of performance enhancing substances/aids? I'm against the use of drugs in sport but when Clarke talks about levelling the playing field, he may have a point though not necessarily for the reasons he states. Consider the difference in facilities and equipment enjoyed in the West when compared to those in Africa for example.
While allowing sportsmen the use of drugs isn't the answer to that problem surely there must be some way of ensuring sportsmen from less fortunate backgrounds can compete equally and make the advantages of privilege less important.
Even though it's clear that many sports people will use drugs to get an advantage, my biggest objection to allowing the use of performance enhancing drugs is not the damage it may or may not do but rather that those who don't want to use them will be completely forced out of their sport (or possibly even worse: forced to use them by their sponsors).
Colin McGovern, The Netherlands What ridiculous nonsense ! Legalising drugs in sport is a suggestion that is based on cockeyed reasoning. Will this man come and look after athletes who use drugs to win in the short term but are total physical and mental wrecks in the long term? One of the reasons we admire athletes is their superb health.
This suggestion threatens to throw all that overboard.
He said what??? Is this man completely mad? How can anybody who has competed in the past condone such activiities as cheating? I can't see that idea catching on, except to the cheats, of course!
Good idea Ron ... what if we blow up all the big high mountains where people live, then we'll all be at sea level, or maybe I should grow another leg and fly away on a purple telephone ...obviously Ron's dealer is cutting him some bad gear these days! Drugs in sport should be wholeheartedly condemned. The argument is complex and subjective, what constitutes an allowable ergogenic aid and who should make these decisions.
However, I believe on balance drugs as a category have great potential for unseen medium and long-term ill health. Condoning such health risks in our society is unacceptable. It should be ruled against and whenever possible risks of ill health should be minimised. Clarke is talking nonsense and his comments are extremely irresponsible. Unfortunately, his point of view is in line with the Aussies 'win at all costs' mentality. Perhaps this attitude might explain Australia's dramatic sporting success in the past few years.
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