ABSTRACT
Much of the objection to the use of drugs in sport is founded on issues of unfair competition and health. These two issues have been used consistently by sports governing bodies as major justifications for the ban on doping in sports. The central objective of this chapter is to provide a further justification for the ban on drugs by focusing on the health dangers to athletes by their use of doping techniques. It will concentrate on contemporary and topical examples illustrating that the health risk to athletes is still the fundamental issue in doping. Athletes do not, or are not prepared to, realise that the ‘win at all costs’ attitude is catastrophic for them as individuals as well as their sport. It will then consider means by which governing bodies and the law can ensure healthy sporting competition.
