Linked Together: Why are some sports tested more than others?

Even pro wrestling instituted random drug testing following the untimely death of Eddie Guerrero at the age of 38.

With the recent crises of highly publicized athletic events such as the Tour de France, there seems to be a question that always comes up– what is going on with these athletes?  Is EVERYONE taking steroids or performance enhancing drugs?  The answer is no– there are athletes who compete clean. 

I have noticed that there are some sports that seem to get more drug tested than others.  Track and field athletes get tested ALL the time– I remember one year while competing for the University of Florida, I got tested about six or seven times.  That’s a lot!  We also had to be drug-tested at our National Championships, Junior Nationals, and even our Regional Championships. 

I had a lot of friends in gymnastics, basketball, soccer, and golf who said that the first time they ever got drug tested was in college.  It was pretty surprising to me– and I thought, shouldn’t everyone follow the same rules? 

The U.S. Olympic Committee, the NFL, and the MLB all have restrictions and consequences for athletes who test positive for steroids or performance enhancing drugs. Track and field athletes get a 2-year suspension and sometime a lifetime ban from the sport– while football and baseball either get loss of pay or have to sit out a few games.  What about soccer or golf or tennis?  Their organizations don’t even test their athletes– and there have been some that say that they don’t want to be tested!  Hmmm– I am sure that there are athletes in these sports who are doing more than just “working out.”

My suggestion would be to make sure that all of these organizations follow the same rules– and their athletes as well.  If one sport gets drug tested– all sports have to implement a drug-testing policy.  There needs to be a unified approach to show the public and the rest of the athletic community that there will be no cheating involved in athletics.  There need to be strict rules for all athletes to follow when it comes to drugs and steroids– no exceptions to a sport or athlete.  You can’t hold some sports under a microscope when it comes to drugs and then let others run free and take anything they want to perform better.

It is a shame that the dark shadow of steroids has to follow athletics wherever it goes. 🙁