Top 10 Professional Sports with high Steroid Abuse
Sports stars and athletes are always looking for a leg up on the competition. Whether it’s spending more time at the gym, eating the right nutritional products, or trying out workout routines, athletes will try anything to improve their skills.
But sometimes they can go too far.
Performance-enhancing drugs have been around forever – caffeine is nothing new, after all. But since the emergence of anabolic steroids, the modern international sports arena has become a kind of arms race, as athletes compete for competitive advantage before regulators can surprise them.
Here is an overview of the biggest scandals of performance improvement in the history of the sport:
Tyson Gay, Athletics
Gay was one of the biggest stars in the sprint when he passed a positive test for a banned substance in 2013. He had already won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics and recorded the second fastest time of the year with a time of 9.69 meters seconds ran in 2009 at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix. After his positive test, Gay was banned from the sport for a year and was stripped of his Olympic silver medal.
Rafael Palmeiro, Baseball
Palmeiro has had a long and productive career in the Major League Baseball, but his achievements have been challenged through P.E.D. use. In his 2005 book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant, Roids, Smash Hits and how baseball became huge, José Canseco accused Palmeiro of using steroids, but later this year, Palmeiro testified in front of the Congress that he “had never used steroids at the time”.
Palmeiro was later suspended for having tested positive for an anabolic steroid, although he claimed to have taken it without his knowledge. Palmeiro is one of five players in baseball history to have at least 500 homers and 3,000 hits in his career, but his ties to steroids have shattered his statistics in the minds of many fans.
Mark McGwire, Baseball
For many in the Major League Baseball, McGwire seemed a boon after the crippling strike of 1994. His pursuit of a season’s circuit record in 1998 drew new fans and headlines at a time when the league desperately needed them. McGwire set the record with 70 homers at the time (the record will be beaten by Barry Bonds, another player accused of using P.E.D.) and ends his playing career with 583 homers.
But all of McGwire’s accomplishments suddenly changed after being accused of using performance-enhancing drugs in Juiced, P.E.D. of teammate Jose Canseco. say everything. Later that year, McGwire testified at a congressional hearing on steroids but declined to answer questions about his alleged use P.E.D. In 2010, McGwire admitted to having used P.E.D. during his career, stating that he wanted “never to have touched steroids”.
Marion Jones, Athletics
Jones became an American hero after winning five medals, including three gold, at the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics. But his hero status declined after Jones was linked to the BALCO scandal on steroids. In 2007, Jones admitted to using steroids during her career and she paid the price. Jones was stripped of her medals at the Olympics and was also sentenced to six months in jail for perjury after previously lying under oath about her use P.E.D.
Ryan Braun, baseball
Braun enjoyed one of the best career starts in the Major League Baseball when his P.E.D. use came to light. In 2010, Braun recorded the eighth largest number of circuits in the first four years of his career. He won the MVP NL award in 2011. But everything changed for Braun in December 2011 when ESPN announced that Braun had achieved positive results. a high level of testosterone. Brewer Slugger Milwaukee was then involved in the biogenesis scandal in 2013 and was suspended for a total of 65 games.
Ben Johnson, Athletics
The Canadian sprinter defeated his rival Carl Lewis at the 1988 Summer Olympics with an amazing 9.79 seconds in the 100-meters to win the gold medal. Johnson had already won two medals at the 1984 Olympics and set a record with his time in 1988 – but his fame was very short-lived. Just days after winning the gold medal, it was announced that Johnson had achieved a positive result for an anabolic steroid, which deprived Johnson of his medal.
Alex Rodriguez, Baseball
Rodriguez was the superstar of the Major League Baseball for many years and many expected him to be the “clean” record holder for home runs at the end of his career. All these hopes collapsed in 2009 after Rodriguez confessed to having used performance enhancing drugs earlier in his career. Rodriguez led the New York Yankees to a World Series championship later this season, but the story of A-Rod and P.E.D.s did not stop there.
Roger Clemens (alleged), baseball
Clemens was one of the most accomplished pitchers in baseball history when he was charged with doping. Clemens won seven Cy Young awards, one AHL title, and two World Series titles, but all of that was called into question after Canseco’s 2005 book accused him of using amphetamines, anabolic steroids and human growth hormone during his career and was never suspended from the match. He was also named in Mitchell’s 2007 report, although he systematically and unconditionally denied allegations that he had used steroids, including in testimony before a congressional committee in 2008. Clemens was then charged perjury in 2010 and tried in court and found not guilty of perjury in 2012. Clemens asserted that hard work had helped him dominate the majors into the final stages of his career, not the DEP
Bonds (allegedly), Barry baseball
Bonds are one of the most controversial figures in the history of baseball. The San Francisco Giants star was one of the most accomplished players of all time: he won seven National League MVP awards, formed 14 All-Star teams and set a MLB record with 73 homers in one season (2001) and 762 in career. -But all his statistical achievements have been scrutinized with a dubious eye because of his alleged history with the DEPs
Bonds was linked to the BALCO scandal on steroids and testified that although he received some products from the company, he did not know that they were prohibited substances.
Lance Armstrong, cycling
The worst, and most explosive, of all the PEI scandals. Armstrong built an empire on his success in the world of cycling and his return from testicular cancer, but all that collapsed when the American cyclist admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs. Armstrong won the Tour de France seven times in a row between 1999 and 2005. He also won the bronze medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in the individual time trial.
Armstrong had been accused of countless doping charges, but he vehemently denied any performance-enhancing drug use during his career.
Everyone knows the name of cycling in terms of performance-enhancing drugs – do not worry, we’ll go to Lance in a moment – but Landis also participated in the doping. Landis was reported for the first time in 2006 after one of its samples tested positive for high testosterone levels following a major return to a suspected Tour de France stage. The cyclist was then suspended from the sport and, in a shocking moment in public, publicly stated that Armstrong was also doped.