Doping: A Sporting History: 2022

(Hardback)

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Why is doping a perennial problem for sports Is this solely a contemporary phenomenon And should doping always be regarded as cheating, or do todays anti-doping measures go too far

Drawing on case studies from the early twentieth century to the present day, Doping: A Sporting History explores why the current anti-doping system looks as it does, charting its origins to the founding of the modern Olympic Games. From interwar notions of sporting purity to the postwar stimulant crisis, what seemed an easily resolvable problem soon became an impossible challenge as the pharmacology improved, the policy system stuttered, and Cold War politics allowed doping to flourish. The late twentieth century saw the creation of the World Anti-Doping Agency, but has the intensity of these global measures led to unintended harms

From the cyclist Tommy Simpson who died in 1967 on Mont Ventoux with amphetamines in his jersey to Team Russias expulsion from the 2018 Winter Olympics, Doping: A Sporting History is a gripping, provocative account that ultimately proposes a new approach: one for the inclusion and protection of athletes themselves.

Reviews

"A highly accessible and thoroughly researched historical account of doping and anti-doping in elite sport. Doping: A Sporting History demonstrates why the 'cops and robbers' account of doping, in which seemingly morally justified anti-doping crusaders are pitted against athletic 'cheats, ' is both false and misleading. The authors make recommendations for genuine reforms that consider the lives of the most important members of elite sport--the athletes themselves."--Ian Ritchie, coauthor of "Fastest, Highest, Strongest: A Critique of High-Performance Sport"

Author Bio

April Henning is Lecturer in Sport Studies at the University of Stirling, and is co-author (with Jesper Andreasson) of Performance Cultures and Doped Bodies: Challenging Categories, Gender Norms, and Policy Responses (2021). Paul Dimeo is Associate Professor in Sport Studies at the University of Stirling. His books include A History of Drug Use in Sport, 18761976 and (with Verner Mller) The Anti-Doping Crisis in Sport.