Olympic Games

The Olympic Games, or Olympics, is an international multi-sport event taking place every two years and alternating between Summer and Winter Games. Originally held in ancient Greece, they were revived by a French nobleman, Pierre Frèdy, Baron de Coubertin in the late 19th century. The Games of the Olympiad, better known as the Summer Olympics, have been held every fourth year since 1896, with the exception of the years during the World Wars.

Doping

One of the major problems facing the Olympics (and international sports in general) is doping, or performance enhancing drugs. In the early 20th century, many Olympic athletes used drugs to enhance their performance. For example, the winner of the marathon at the 1904 Games, Thomas Hicks, was given strychnine and brandy by his coach, even during the race.

Related Topics:
Doping - Marathon - 1904 Games - Thomas Hicks - Strychnine - Brandy

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As these methods became more extreme, gradually the awareness grew that this was no longer a matter of health through sports.

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The first olympic death caused by doping occurred in 1960. At the games in Rome the Danish Knut Enemark Jensen fell from his bicycle and died. As was later established he had been doped with amphetamines.

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In the mid-1960s sports federations put a ban on doping, and the IOC followed suit in 1967. The first Olympic athlete to test positive for doping use was Hans-Gunnar Liljenwall, a Swedish pentathlete at the 1968 Summer Olympics, who lost his bronze medal for alcohol use. More than fifty athletes followed him over the next 34 years, several medal winners among them. The most publicised doping-related disqualification was that of Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, who won the 100 m at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, but tested positive for stanozolol.

Related Topics:
Hans-Gunnar Liljenwall - Pentathlete - 1968 Summer Olympics - Canadian - Ben Johnson - 1988 Seoul Olympics - Stanozolol

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Despite the tests, many athletes used doping without being caught. In 1990, documents were revealed that showed many East German athletes, especially women, had been administered anabolic steroids and other drugs by their coaches and trainers, as a government policy.

Related Topics:
East German - Anabolic steroid

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In the late 1990s, the IOC took initiative in a more organised battle against doping, leading to the formation of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in 1999. The 2000 and 2002 Olympics showed that the battle is not nearly over, as several medallists in weightlifting and cross-country skiing were disqualified after doping offences.

Related Topics:
1990s - World Anti-Doping Agency

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