Level Playing Field

This entry on the injustices of sport attempts to uncover how Performance Enhancing Practices (PEP) creates a problem in sport. Three different cases of PEP use will first be examined and hypocrisy of PEP use will be further analyzed.   

           

The Nike Oregon Project

            Just as the National Football League utilizes college football as their football factory, and Major League Baseball falls back on the minor leagues for uprising talent, essentially both have a farm. This farming system allows fresh talent to continue maintaining the game and allows a sport to survive at a professional level.

            The Nike Oregon Project embodies the same concept of a farming system towards long distance running and takes it a step further. After realizing that American distance running was not keeping up with against world competition in the late 90’s, the project began in 2001 under the leadership of famed marathon runner, Alberto Salazar (Oregon Project, 2014).  An abundance of funding paved way for state of the art training facilities that mimicked conditions that the American counterparts had naturally (Oregon Project, 2014). This was an argument that coach Salazar has stood behind, claiming athletes from Africa that live in a higher altitude environments, which increases their red blood cell count, thus increasing their ability to transport oxygen throughout their body (Track Town USA, 2014). The success of the Nike Oregon Project has paid off with athletes who had trained there finishing top two at the 2012 London Olympics (Oregon Project, 2014).

Alain Baxter

             Scottish skier, Alain Baxter, became a finished third in slaloms at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games becoming Britain’s first winter Olympic medalist in bronze (Thompson, 2014). Baxter was unfortunately stripped of his bronze medal after a drug test discovered a banned substance levomethamphetamine (Thompson, 2014). The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) found that the substance, used by Baxter in form of a Vick’s inhaler, was not enough to provide a significant performance advantage, which cleared Baxter from any ban from the sport (Thompson, 2014). CAS stuck with the International Olympic Committee’s ruling on the athlete’s responsibility of ingesting products, which prevented Baxter from receiving any award for finishing third (Thompson, 2014).

Andreea Raducan

            During the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Andreea Raducan was stripped of her all-around gold medal after drug tests confirmed of a banned substance (Taken Away, 2000; Zanca, 2000). Raducan was given Nurofen Cold and Flu by a team doctor, which was a common over-the-counter medicine since she complained of a fever. The drug contained a banned stimulant, pseudo-ephedrine, which was a substance commonly found in cold medicine (Taken Away, 2000). The physician was later banned from the Olympics for the following four years and Raducan became the first gymnast to be striped of a medal for drug violations (Taken Away, 2000). Maintaining the rules of the IOC for their drug policy, Raducan was stripped of her medal after being drug tested additional times even though the amount of pseudo-ephedrine was not enough to provide a significant performance advantage (Taken Away, 2000).

            Within the power relations in this case, the governing bodies sets themselves as one of the privileged groups in the figuration since they are the ones determining the rules of what PEP is allowed and what are not. Among the three characters that are discussed, the Nike Oregon Project is the only one that is the least criticized while the two others that are related to the Olympics are ostracized. In the Nike Oregon Project, Nike is among the privileged because of their heavy influence in sports as a supplier for sports apparel. Nike’s strong brand equity allows the organization to continue using the Oregon Project as a facility to enhance the performance of long distance running athletes.

            In comparison between the Oregon Project and the two other athletes, the difference was the use of a banned substance. Although Baxter and Raducan, did not use have significant levels to have a performance advantage, the IOC’s ruling that athletes consumed an illegal drug during competition was the difference. The pure consumption of a banned substance during the competition reinforced the idea of a level playing field. Subsequently, the ban on pseudo-ephedrine was lifted after the medals were taken away from Raducan (Deusen, 2000).

The Oregon Project was viewed as acceptable behavior since the reasons for the enhancement included providing athletes increased technology in their training routines and housing environments, which promoted altering the physiology of the athletes (Oregon Project, 2014). The Oregon Project looked to level the playing field with the competition through “natural” means by providing proper nutrition, close monitoring of blood values, and oxygen reduced training facilities to mimick high altitude environment (Oregon Project, 2014; Ferstle, 2008).

Understanding the differences between the two athletes and a corporate company like Nike, questions arise if the “natural” state provided by Nike is an equal PEP compared to the situation that Baxter and Raducan faced. This is where it becomes hypocritical due to the impact of wealth, and how Nike can continue to supply “natural” forms of PEP. Are athletes under the Nike Oregon Project using the same substances used byBaxter and Raducan, in their own training camp, and subsequently stop using weeks prior to competition? Does Nike’s wealth contribute to the ability to mask substances that are banned in their athletes? Although the Nike Oregon Project has shifted away from oxygen deprivation to create high altitude training environments, the projects emphasizes running technique and increased sport psychology (Track Town USA, 2014).

Sport reinforces the concept of able bodied and those who cannot perform. Among the able bodied, sport highlights “normal” human and the elite “super” human athletes. Through the use of PEP’s, “normal” humans have the ability to reach a high state of “super” human. Sadly the practices involved in PEP do not create a level playing field and only creates a bigger divide.

Reference

Deusen, A. (2000). 2000: Andreea Raducan stripped of Olympic gold. Retrieved 18^th April, 2014, from http://gymnastics.about.com/od/olympicgymnastics/ig/Gymnastics-Controversies/Andreea-Raducan-Photo.htm.

Ferstle, J. (2008). The system: How the Nike Oregon project has rejuventated the Gouchers’ running. Runners World. Retrieved 17th April, 2014, from

http://www.runnersworld.com/elite-runners/system-how-nike-oregon-project-has-rejuvenated-gouchers-running?page=1.

Oregon Project (2014). Oregon Project: Project. Retrieved 17th April, 2014, from http://nikeoregonproject.com/

Taken Away. (2000). Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 19^th April, 2014, from http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/olympics/2000/gymnastics/news/2000/09/25/raducan_decision_ap/.

Track Town USA. (2014). Nike Oregon Project. Retrieved 18th April, 2014, from http://www.tracktownusa.com/track.item.5/the-oregon-project.html.

Thompson, A. (2014). Sochi 2014: Alain Baxter on winning & losing Olympic bronze. Retrieved 18th April, 2014, from http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/winter-olympics/26156603.

Zanca, S. (2000). Romanian Gymnast Loses Gold Medal. Retrieved 18th April, 2014, from http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/story?id=100424.