sports – Australian Science

Drug Sport

Kelly Burnes — Wed, 24 Jul 2013 00:18:04 +0000

Legalising doping in sports leaves no winners at the finsih line. Photo credit: Athletics tracks finish line by Petey21, via Wikimedia Commons

The 100th edition of Le Tour de France came to a close yesterday evening in Paris. It was a spectacular 3 weeks of racing. The battling of teams, riders positioning for stage wins, fans in fancy (and quite often strange) dress, stunning scenery – all made for a memorable tour indeed.

I’ve watched a lot of NBCSN’s Tour de France coverage this year because for one; it’s one of the greatest athletic competitions on this planet, and two; I was curious if this year was going to be any different. Probably as a result of instructions from broadcast corporations, there had been no mention of the American cyclist that ruined himself, Lance Armstrong, by name; just the scandal that rocked cycling. There were a lot of changes to this year’s course – twice up the Alpe d’Huez, the uphill finish on Mont Ventoux, the nighttime finish in Paris on the Champs-Élysées. Changes such as these, along with fresh, young riders such as Nairo Quintana and Andrew Talansky – the future of cycling – will help to lift the tarnish of this truly great, test of sporting endurance.

There is a rampant drug problem in the US sports – baseball, football (not soccer), track and field, cycling. I’m not talking about athletes using and abusing drugs such as cocaine and alcohol; no, this is the pre-meditated plotting to use performance-enhancing drugs to gain an unnatural competitive advantage. Olympic swimming programs in the 1980s were no strangers to steroid cocktails. Wrestling and weightlifting are also sports to have experimented with drugs to push the boundaries.

And to level the playing field there has been a lot of talk lately about legalising doping ‘since everyone is doing it.’ The argument that everyone is doing it is absurd. Granted both the business and science of sport has escalated with huge sums on the line. The money involved with stadium building, superstar contracts and ticket and concession prices is staggering. So too is the amount of funding that goes into exercise physiology equipment for training and recovery and nutrition for these athletes. But to go down the road where athletes shoot up, inhale, drink up, or cycle blood in and out of their body to win in order to beat records and earn more money and endorsements should not be the future of sport.

It’s impossible to know how many are or are not cheating by taking drugs. But there has to be a zero tolerance enforcement policy in place, with much more stringent consequences for those that are caught. Sebastian Coe, the London 2012 chairman, makes an excellent point in this BBC article. Four-year bans would do more harm to an athlete’s career: two-year bans make it too easy for athletes to bounce back. To legalise doping in sport, as this article from The Conversation advocates, would indeed be a tragedy. It would change sport to sport entertainment: two very different things.

Australia is deep in the throes of this debate. You can read about and watch what two Australian sporting icons, Shane Gould and Peter FitzSimons, have to say on the issue of athletes using performance enhancing drugs here. Weigh in and let us know what you think.

In the meantime, let’s hope indeed, that this is one Maillot jaune that will not be compromised.

Cite this article:
Burnes K (2013-07-24 00:18:04). Drug Sport. Australian Science. Retrieved: May 07, 2024, from http://australianscience.com.au/news/drug-sport/

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The Olympics Mass Effect

Charles Ebikeme — Mon, 28 May 2012 07:42:14 +0000

59 Days to go.

Simply put, for those that care about the London Olympics — the excitement is mounting. With 26 sports across 44 venues, 10,500 athletes and millions of spectators, it’s going to be a busy summer. From Box-hill to Coventry, and all across London the preparations are almost over and it’s almost time for the curtains to go up. Behind the scenes a workforce of around 200,000 people are being amassed — comprising of around 6,000 paid full-time and temporary employees, up to 70,000 volunteers and around 100,000 contractors. A small army. Add to this another small army of reporters and media that will cover the games from every angle. The American broadcaster NBC will be sending a team of around 2,800 to London. The BBC will deliver a record 2,500 hours of live action from the games, including 26 channels dedicated to each sport. An Olympic staff (in more ways than one) that actually outnumbers Team GB itself by a considerable margin.

As Londoners, nonplussed about it all, make a quiet exit for a few weeks, the city and those unlucky enough to be caught in it, are going to be overrun with tourists, sightseers, and everyone else.

The amount of column inches dedicated to the Olympics, as you would expect, is significant. From the tried-and-tested stories of athletes battling against the odds to make it to London this summer. To the truly bizarre ones of the UK’s Ministry of Defence telling residents high-velocity rockets will be fitted to apartment blocks close to the Olympic Park. With round the clock surveillance, and even snipers.

Evidently, in the run-up to the games, tensions and expectations for worse-case-scenarios are high. The threat and danger of anything sparking a problem is clearly in the forefront of the organiser’s minds. With millions of extra people added to the melting pot it’s not just an extra strain on public services. It goes beyond that — the Olympics should come with a health warning.

Well, in fact, it does. A doctor at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has told US travellers to make sure they are vaccinated against measles if they travel to London for the Olympics in July.

“Disease knows no borders. We are concerned about Americans coming back from the Olympics this summer and unknowingly infecting others,

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No Place to Go But Up

Kelly Burnes — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 06:50:39 +0000

Adaptive Climbing Participant Tackles the Wall

ad•ap•ta•tion [ad-uhp-tey-shuhn] – a form or structure to fit a changed environment

“The most powerful natural species are those that adapt to environmental change without losing their fundamental identity which gives them their competitive advantage.

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Social and physical influences of sports and exercise

Josip — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 08:40:26 +0000

Image source: www.ontrackretreats.com.au

Since the beginning of time sport has had a great importance. It is good for health and fitness, it is great fun and pastime and is great for learning how to win and dealing with the loss. Many factors influence sports activities and the study of them has gone to such an extent that today there is even a branch of sociology studying sports.

Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree of skill, especially at higher levels. Hundreds of sports exist, including those for a single participant, through to those with hundreds of simultaneous participants, either in teams or competing as individuals. Some non-physical activities, such as board games and card games are sometimes referred to as sports, but a sport is generally recognised as being based in physical athleticism. [1]

Promoting physical activity is a public health priority, and changes in the environmental contexts of adults’ activity choices are believed to be crucial. However, of the factors associated with physical activity, environmental influences are among the least understood.
Method: Using journal scans and computerized literature database searches, we identified 19 quantitative studies that assessed the relationships with physical activity behavior of perceived and objectively determined physical environment attributes. Findings were categorized into those examining five categories: accessibility of facilities, opportunities for activity, weather, safety, and aesthetic attributes.
Results: Accessibility, opportunities, and aesthetic attributes had significant associations with physical activity. Weather and safety showed less-strong relationships. Where studies pooled different categories to create composite variables, the associations were less likely to be statistically significant.
Conclusions: Physical environment factors have consistent associations with physical activity behavior. Further development of ecologic and environmental models, together with behavior-specific and context-specific measurement strategies, should help in further understanding of these associations. Prospective studies are required to identify possible causal relationships. [2]

Image source: www.reidcycles.com.au

Results of the studies continue to support a growing literature suggesting that exercise, physical activity and physical-activity interventions have beneficial effects across several physical and mental-health outcomes. Generally, participants engaging in regular physical activity display more desirable health outcomes across a variety of physical conditions. Similarly, participants in randomized clinical trials of physical-activity interventions show better health outcomes, including better general and health-related quality of life, better functional capacity and better mood states.
The studies have several implications for clinical practice and research. Most work suggests that exercise and physical activity are associated with better quality of life and health outcomes. Therefore, assessment and promotion of exercise and physical activity may be beneficial in achieving desired benefits across several populations. Several limitations were noted, particularly in research involving randomized clinical trials. These trials tend to involve limited sample sizes with short follow-up periods, thus limiting the clinical implications of the benefits associated with physical activity. [3]

Little is known about possible determinants of children’s participation in physical activity. In particular, the role of adults has not been clearly identified. This study investigated contemporary social cognitive variables, in combination with likely adult influence factors, in predicting intended and self reported vigorous physical activity for young adolescents. A questionnaire was administered to 147 boys and girls ages 13–14. Questions assessed physical activity levels, including vigorous activity, intention to take part in sports or vigorous physical activity, social cognitive variables, and adult encouragement of physical activity. A structural equation modeling analysis showed a good fit for a model in which vigorous physical activity was predicted by direct paths from adult encouragement and intention, with adult encouragement also predicting vigorous activity indirectly through perceived competence. Intention itself was predicted by adult encouragement and a task achievement goal orientation. [4]

Mental disorders are of major public health significance. It has been claimed that vigorous physical activity has positive effects on mental health in both clinical and nonclinical populations. This paper reviews the evidence for this claim and provides recommendations for future studies. The strongest evidence suggests that physical activity and exercise probably alleviate some symptoms associated with mild to moderate depression. The evidence also suggests that physical activity and exercise might provide a beneficial adjunct for alcoholism and substance abuse programs; improve self-image, social skills, and cognitive functioning; reduce the symptoms of anxiety; and alter aspects of coronary-prone (Type A) behavior and physiological response to stresses. The effects of physical activity and exercise on mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, and other aspects of mental health are not known. Negative psychological effects from exercise have also been reported. Recommendations for further research on the effects of physical activity and exercise on mental health are made.[5]

Conclusion:

The significance of sport is great. Not only that it effects our physical well-being but our state of mind as well. Various things effect how we experience sports activities however their benefits mustn’t be forgotten and neglected.

References:

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport
[2] ‘Environmental factors associated with adults’ participation in physical activity’ by Nancy Humpel BPsyc, Neville Owen PhD and Eva Leslie MHN
[3] ‘Exercise and well-being: a review of mental and physical health benefits associated with physical activity’ by Penedo, Frank Ja; Dahn, Jason Ra,b
[4] J Sch Health. 1996;66(2):75–78
[5] ‘The relation of physical activity and exercise to mental health’ by C B Taylor, J F Sallis, and R Needle

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