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Ancient times, sports rivalry was honest and that athletes did not use dubious
methods, such as special medicines, in order to achieve a better result.
We also know that during the Roman period of Caesar, during the gladiator
games for example, different methods were used to improve the result. Athletes
were given herbs or animal organs, from a lion for example. These methods had
a ritual and psychological influence.
With the development of science, pharmacology and pharmacopeia, chemical
medicines were prepared. This was the time when there were changes in the
honest competitions of the contemporary Olympic Movement.
There have already been many cases in which athletes have had their results
cancelled. New medicines are constantly created which requires constant and
special control by the IOC Medical Commission.
In 1960, the IOC drew attention to the fact that some amphetamine sulphates
were being used in certain sports disciplines. In 1961, the IOC created its Medical
Commission. Then, in 1967, the IOC discussed the problems linked to doping
tests and means of testing for the 1968 Games in Mexico. In 1981, during the
11 th Olympic Congress, the principles of testing and the fight against doping were
studied again. Rules were established to avoid doping, testing laboratories were
set up and the list of prohibited substances (which is always changing) was drawn
up. Tests are carried out not only during the competitions but also during the
training periods. The largest problem is that the medical compounds of these
prohibited substances can be found in many medicines which are used to treat
illnesses or sports injuries. It is necessary to study the direct and indirect effects of
these medicines.
More recently, different International Federations have set up their own
medical commissions, such as the IAAF, FINA, the ITU, FISA and the IWF, which
are particularly active. Most of their activities are centred upon the fight against
doping, but there are also some activities to train doctors.
Since 1964, the World Health Organisation has recommended no longer using
the words doping mania and addiction. It recommends replacing them with the
term "dependency", which refers to a state resulting from taking, periodically
or continually, a given drug. The old term dependency carries the notion of a
psychological but not a physical need; the product is sought for the good feeling
and satisfaction it brings but, in the case of a sudden halt, there is no suffering
from withdrawal symptoms, a weaning pathology which causes the drug-user to
find the drug at any price and in any circumstances. In general, there is no trend
of indefinitely increasing the doses either. In short, the noxious feeling mostly
concerns the individual rather than his/her group.
This can be compared to an addiction which causes both physical and
moral strains: in the case of opiates, when the drug is not taken for a period of
more than a few hours, withdrawal symptoms appear (these are of differing
degrees depending on the drug).
Describing and classing drugs comes down to listing a large number of products
which affect the nervous system and are capable of causing lasting physical
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