... using it encouraged an athlete to play their chosen sport in such a way that they took more risks of injury, knowing that they could heal faster if they did get hurt, giving them an advantage over those who try to avoid injury (because they have ethical problems with the drug)?
Not sure many athletes hold back for fear of injury anyway, so I don't know that it would make any difference except in competitions they don't attach great importance to winning and so try to save themselves for the big games - it is far from unusual for athletes to compete when carrying injuries which will be worsened by competing and not just risk ending their career but their long term health.
So I think your assumption that athletes could take more risks is incorrect - they'll already do as much as the rules/ laws of the sport allow.
I guess if everyone used it, that issue would go away. But I got the feeling from your Lance Armstrong opinions that if an advantage is granted, you aren't too concerned with whether or not everyone else is doing it at the same time.
Re: Armstrong.
The argument that everyone is doing it so no one gains an advantage is flawed for multiple reasons. Different people respond to different degrees to drugs and it leaves a situation where people have to take the PED if they want to compete or give up.
And there could still be negative consequences for some sports if you by extension encouraged reckless playstyles. Sports might grow more dangerous as a result, and maybe you would end up with people getting even worse injuries, so that they'd be out for a long time even with the drug. But that's a separate issue from the question of whether or not it's cheating.
This assumes an inactive governance structure - obviously not the case in any sport.
*MySmiley*
Robert Graves "There is no money in poetry, but then there is no poetry in money, either."
Henning Mankell "We must defend the open society, because if we start locking our doors, if we let fear decide, the person who committed the act of terror will win"
Robert Graves "There is no money in poetry, but then there is no poetry in money, either."
Henning Mankell "We must defend the open society, because if we start locking our doors, if we let fear decide, the person who committed the act of terror will win"
Are all PEDs cheating?
- 29/01/2013 06:46:28 PM
373 Views
isn't "healing faster than humanly possible" pretty much equivalent to "gain an unfair advantage"? *NM*
- 29/01/2013 08:17:09 PM
146 Views
I prefer to think about it like this:
- 29/01/2013 08:34:35 PM
287 Views
no.
- 29/01/2013 09:00:02 PM
335 Views
What if ...
- 29/01/2013 09:21:00 PM
271 Views
I think your assumptions are flawed...
- 29/01/2013 10:01:11 PM
365 Views