Soviet Participation Essay Example for Free

Soviet Participation Essay When the games were reinstated in 1920 and again in 1948, [9]the Soviets initially declined to take part. The primary goal of â€Å"Socialist sports† was to benefit the masses, not the elite athletes. Marxist-Leninist ideology intended all citizens to participate to enhance their own strength as well as the strength of the state. They believed that recreation and the training of the body allowed workers to remain strong and healthy as well as productive. Health and productivity would also lead to building moral character and social responsibility. Since sports were intended for the masses, rather than for an athletic elite, the Soviet rulers saw no use for participation in the Olympic games. Soon after the 1917 revolution ended, Bolshevik leaders established a state-run sports system, which consisted of hundreds of sports clubs as well as two large sports societies run by the secret police and the Army (Rosellini n.pag.). Unfortunately, as quickly as these well- intended clubs were formed, their original purpose began to disintegrate. As early as 1926, the sports clubs were accused of ignoring â€Å"the vast mass of young people† and focusing on the athletic elite, because the sports facilities were straying from their initial goal of supporting the masses and focusing on the athletically gifted (Rosselini n.pag.). Between the World Wars the Soviets remained separate from the games. But away from the rest of the world, they were devising a plan to make their athletes rank among the best in the world. Finally, in 1948, the Soviets and their Satellites decided to challenge the West in the 1952 Olympics. The ruling Soviet party demanded that government officials â€Å"raise the level of skill, so that Soviet sportsmen might win the world supremacy in the major sports in the immediate future† (Rosellini n.pag.). To do this children were evaluated and if found suitable, were taken to live in â€Å"sports factories.† There, children were trained many hours a day and were secretly dosed with steroids. Child athletes were usually between the ages of six and eighteen in these training facilities and could have been taken from their parents as early as the age of three. Each athlete had his or her own trainer, doctor, masseuse, physiologist, and sports conceptualizer to plan an individual program. The outside world remained unaware of the Soviet design for sports dominance. Not until members of the Soviet Union entered Olympic competition did steroid use affect athletic achievement. The Soviet factories greatly threatened the ideals of the International Olympic Committee. Competitive fair play and international cooperation were jeopardized by the Soviet’s desire for political superiority. The factories were a symptom of one of the greatest threats to the Olympic ideals: countries seeking political influence and international recognition. The Soviets used these â€Å"factories† as a way to improve the international standing of their country. If they came out on top in sports they believed they would appear to validate the communist political system to the rest of the world. But, Soviet athletes physically looked different. When swimmer Raik Hannemann was seventeen, his trainer approached him and said, Were going to try something secret, keep it to yourself. It will add two percent to your time and bring you to that extra level of excellence (Rosselini n.pag). Hannemann knew the blue tablets had to do something with steroids, but he didn’t know what the side effects were and trusted his trainer. He was even told to keep the tablets a secret from his parents. Once he took the performance-enhancing drugs his speed immediately increased by six seconds (Rosselini n.pag). Athletes competing in a variety of sports were treated with performance-enhancing drugs, but the swimmers especially boasted abnormal musculature. The judges and spectators demanded explanations, of how these athletes grew so grotesquely strong. Although no medical tests for sports enhancing drugs existed yet, in 1976, performance-enhancing drugs were placed on the International Olympic Committee’s banned substances list in response to the unproven Soviet’s steroid use in the recent Olympic games (Chidlovski n.pag.).[10] A decade later the Olympic committee introduced newly designed doping tests to detect if athletes used the drugs in their training period rather than during competition. Some Olympic events, such as the Hungarian defeat of the Soviet water polo team in 1956 took a large symbolism significance (Sterngass pg. 37).  Drug Use by Other Countries  Of course, the U.S.S.R. was not the only country to seek international recognition through Olympic success. Many other countries have defied the Olympic code by using performance-enhancing drugs as well. â€Å"Sports became a propaganda tool and athletic success was closely tied to nationalism and patriotism† (Sterngass pg.37). [11] As medal counts became more important, the use of performance-enhancing drugs also became more prevalent. Steroids first threatened the Olympic ideals by countries seeking political superiority. Suspicion of steroid use began as early as 1968, but the drugs did not become common until the 1972 Olympic games (â€Å"Steroid Abuse in Sports-Steroid Abuse.com† n.pag.)[12] The East German’s joined in the use of performance-enhancing drugs early on as well. â€Å"In 1968 East Germany’s chief medical officer submitted a report to the government recommending the total and collective administration of steroids to all East German athletes† (â€Å"Steroid Abuse in Sports- Steroid Abuse.com† n.pag.). In the twenty years preceding this recommendation, Eastern Germany dominated nearly every international sporting competition. The East German drug use was yet another effort to prove their own superiority over the West, just as the Soviets had done just a few years earlier. Many East-German athletes were told that they were taking vitamins, rather than steroids. So, not only was the East German government practicing the use of unfair drugs, but they were also lying to their own athletes and jeopardizing the long-term health of the individuals. Since then, as more drugs have been developed, drug tests and methods for testing have also expanded (Benagh n.pag.).[13] In recent years, many American athletes have been accused and have tested positively for drug use. This kind of cheating is highly unethical and defies the Olympic code of fair play and good sportsmanship. Performance-enhancing drugs add a more political aspect to the games, causing less focus on the actual competitive athletics. As more and more athletes defy the Olympic ideals, rules must be regulated even more closely. These changes in rules also affect the spirit of the Olympics, which fosters an international feeling of community and competition. As more athletes break the rules, more stringent oversight ensues. This strict regulation takes much of the integrity out of the games, diminishing the Olympic spirit. In the 2008 Beijing games alone, 4,500 athletes were tested; only eight of those tested positive and were banned from competing (â€Å"OLYMPIC GAMESà ¢â‚¬  n.pag.).[14] But, many more athletes also may have been guilty, perhaps they were not caught because the tests were not rigorous enough. Canadian sprinter, Ben Johnson, was just one athlete who was found guilty after winning an Olympic medal. In 1988, Johnson won the gold medal in the one hundred meter final in the Seoul games, setting a world record and was considered the best one hundred meter runner of his time. However, just three days after winning Olympic gold, Johnson’s urine sample tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and his medal and records were stripped. Johnson was suspended from competition until 1991, but re-entered the indoor track scene and qualified for the 1992 games, where he placed last. Just one year later, Johnson came close to a fifty-meter record, but again failed a drug test (Whooley n.pag). [15]Marion Jones, a former track star who won five medals in the 2000 Sydney games, was convicted of steroid usage and all of her medals were stripped. Years later, evidence and testimony supported a conviction, sentencing Jones to six months in prison (Mulero n. pag.).[16]