The use of prohibited substances by athletes has been steadily increasing in many sport competitions. This essay argues that this is due to more competition between the participants, as well as lax security policies in the tournaments. This essay also suggests that increasing the severity of punishments for cheaters and creating more divisions and categories are the most viable solutions.
Many professional competitions have ineffective security procedures followed by staff, and they often fail to detect intruders smuggling in drugs and other advantageous items into restricted places. These are then used by participants to gain an unfair advantage over the rest of the competition. Another problem faced by athletes is that there are simply too many competitors to compete with, and they may find it demotivating. This may take a toll on their mental well-being and ultimately force them to cheat using banned substances. They may also experience increased stress levels during their performance. For example, an athlete competing with 10 other participants will be less stressed compared to an athlete competing with 50 other participants.
The best way to stop drug use among competitors is to increase the severity of punishments. Athletes that are caught using prohibited substances should be disqualified immediately to maintain fairness of the sport and would deter most participants from cheating. Creating more categories and dividing participants into smaller groups would help reduce their stress levels and make them less likely to cheat using drugs. For instance, an event organizer can split players into different weight or age groups and reduce competition among them. This would lead to more confidence in players and make them feel that they do not need to cheat.
To conclude, increasing security in restricted areas and creating specific subdivisions in games can significantly help reduce the use of performance-enhancing drugs and further motivate each player to compete fairly and ethically.