You heard the news. He didn’t admit it , but decided to stop fighting the allegations that he participated in blood doping while riding and winning seven Tour de France titles. The jury is out now, Lance has been stripped of his medals.
What is blood doping? The term doping was originally used to describe the addition (doping) of red blood cells to an athlete’s blood. Doing this, enhanced an athlete’s performance by increasing oxygenation, aerobic capacity and long term endurance. Originally red blood cells were used because they could easily be extracted, frozen, stored and later defrosted . Now there is a drug called erythropoietin, EPO, that accomplishes this.
EPO has the ability to increase red blood cell count. It is injected under the skin and works for six to twenty four weeks or longer. This makes it useful for endurance athletes like Lance. Other drugs that can be added to the mix are corticosteroids ,testosterone and human growth hormone, which have the effect of increasing muscular strength and performance .
The drive to win, the availability of drugs to give you the extra edge is what motivates elite athletes to succumb to these illegal methods. Let’s hope these examples of the consequences of taking performance enhancing substances prevents future winners from following this downhill path. When heroes become antiheroes , the message is clear and strong.
