Marion Jones is not the first and the last athlete to have been bursted using performance enhancing drug. The practice of drug use has been around for a long time.
As early as the late 19th century professional runners were using substances like caffeine, cocaine and ether-coated sugar cubes to improve performance, reduce pain and delay fatigue.
My top five notable drug cheats are:
- In the 1904 Olympic , Thomas Hicks (USA) won the marathon at St. Louis and collapsed. It took hours to revive him; he had taken brandy mixed with strychnine to help him win his gold medal.
- The World Weightlifting Championships of 1954 featured the first unconfirmed attempt at doping. Testosterone injections by Soviet Athletes resulted in the Soviets winning the gold medal in most weight classes and breaking several world records.
- If the Russians are good the Americans are better, in early 1960s Dr. John Ziegler (who was the US Team Coach in the 1954 Soviet-dominated World Weightlifting Championships) administered his weightlifters Dianabol tablets and the US dominated the 1962 World Championships.
- If you dont know the famous case of Ben Johnson then you must be leaving under a rock. A famous case of illicit drug use in a competition was Canadian Ben Johnson’s victory in the 100 m at the 1988 Summer Olympics. He subsequently failed the drug test when stanozolol was found in his urine. He later admitted to using the steroid.
- On April 22, 2006, American Olympic and world 100-meter champion Justin Gatlin failed a drug test when steroids were found in his system.
Do you believe all winners use some kind of drug?
marathon you can do it 