Doping: A Sporting History

Why is doping a perennial problem for sport? Is this solely a contemporary phenomenon? And should doping always be regarded as cheating, or do today’s 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 post-war stimulant crisis, what seemed an easily resolvable problem soon became an impossible challenge as 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 Russia’s 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.

About the Author :
April Henning is a lecturer in sport studies at the University of Stirling. She is coauthor of Performance Cultures and Doped Bodies: Challenging Categories, Gender Norms, and Policy Responses. Paul Dimeo is associate professor in sport studies at the University of Stirling. His books include A History of Drug Use in Sport, 1876-1976 and The Anti-Doping Crisis in Sport.

Review :
2023 Outstanding Academic Title Henning and Dimeo, both academics in the relatively novel discipline of sports studies, provide a broad overview of how doping has developed in elite sport, referencing all the most high-profile offenders . . . They show how governing bodies were slow to react to the use of chemical compounds in sport, given that, in the West, they were seen as a potentially helpful solution to various physical and psychiatric problems. This is a very readable global overview and updating of doping and anti-doping in amateur and professional sport: testing, scandals, and suggestions for improvement . . . The important message is that athletes should be respected and empowered to share their views, participate in collective bargaining and policy making, and receive legal and financial aid. In terms of testing, less invasive methods – i.e., hair analysis – should be considered . . . All told, this is a must-read. Essential. 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.