Performance enhancement drugs continue to be a problem in sports. With heated competition on all sides and immense pressure from coaches, parents, and fans, athletes turn to drugs to reach the top in competitions. In turn, government and sporting agencies go to great lengths to stop doping. Still, despite anti-doping rules, random testing, and devastating consequences for the athletes, some athletes are still taking the enormous risk to reach the gold. The problem doesn’t seem to have a solution, either. As anti-doping testers become more stringent, athletes still find ways to beat their tests. Hence, why we keep seeing more and more athletes getting caught. Here are 25 True Facts About Athletes And Performance Enhancement Drugs.
25
Using performance enhancement drugs or "doping" came to the world's attention when Danish cyclist Knud Enemark Jensen died due to abuse of amphetamines during the 1960 Rome Olympics.
Source: http://www.doping-prevention.com/doping-in-general/history-of-doping.html 24
The drugs athletes use typically fall into two categories: anabolics and stimulants. Many athletes use a cocktail of the two or will look to other kinds of drugs.
Source: https://www.medicaldaily.com/rio-olympics-doping-facts-how-performance-enhancing-drugs-work-and-risks-394946 23
For instance, in the 2003 Dublin Olympics, UK sprinter Dwain Charles used a combination of drugs to improve his performance, recovery time, sluggishness, and reaction time. He was disqualified when it was discovered.
Source: https://www.medicaldaily.com/rio-olympics-doping-facts-how-performance-enhancing-drugs-work-and-risks-394946 22
Athletes often will use diuretics, a drug that kicks the kidneys into overdrive and masks other doping substances in the blood stream.
Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-price-of-gold-doping-professional-athletes_us_58f65efce4b048372700dc0e 21
If an athlete is ever tested positive for drugs, they're usually stripped of all their accolades. A prime example is Ben Plucknett, who broke two world records in discus throw, but was stripped of those records when found positive for drugs.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/22/sports/ben-plucknett-48-track-star-who-lost-record-after-drug-test.html 
