Saturday, January 12, 2008

Track star Marion Jones gets jail time. Shows that lying and steroid use doesn't pay

Once again an athlete who has taken steroids is in trouble. Once again, yawn.

This time Marion Jones was sentenced to six months in jail for lying about taking steroids. Not only had she lied about taking drugs, but she also had to give back the five medals that she won in Sydney.

My question is this, what happened to the integrity of athletes.? It's not just baseball that has the steroid cheaters, now it's the Olympics too. What happened to fair play? What happened to working hard for a goal? What happened to excelling at a sport by sacrificing years to achieve a dream? Now all athletes have to do to achieve greatness is swallow pills in a bottle.

Is the lust of fame, fortune and glory are more important than ethics? What message does this send to the young? That in order to win at life you have to cheat? Does this show that if you are not famous or on the top that you don't matter?

If the Olympics and pro sports wants to clean their act, they must first: impose stiffer penalties on the athletes who take them. In other words make them an example. Second: don't let trainers and coaches have accessibility to steroids. In other make it tougher for trainers to give athletes drugs. Third: have a strong policy that has some teeth to it, and better drugs tests. And fourth: stronger education about the issue.

By taking action, instead of reacting, maybe sports can get back to what it should be. Athletes excelling without drugs.


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