(MUSIC)
German Olympic speedskating champion Claudia Pechstein competes in Erfurt, Germany, in February. She has returned to the sport after a two-year doping ban.
BOB DOUGHTY: Discovery of banned drugs and drug use at a major sporting event led to creation of the World Anti-Doping Agency. In nineteen ninety-eight, French police carried out a raid and found banned substances at the Tour de France.
After that, the International Olympic Committee led efforts to create an independent agency to set and enforce common anti-doping rules. WADA, as the agency is known, has representatives of the Olympic movement and officials from around the world.
FAITH LAPIDUS: “Doping” is the general term for the use of banned substances or activities to improve athletic performance. WADA says the term probably came from the Dutch word “dop.” It was the name for an alcoholic drink that Zulu fighters used to improve their performance in battle.
The agency says the word “doping” began to be used for athletes in the beginning of the twentieth century. At first, it meant the illegal drugging of racehorses.
The agency notes that athletes have used substances for centuries to improve their performance. Ancient Greeks used special foods and drinks. Nineteenth-century cyclists and others used alcohol, caffeine, cocaine -- even strychnine, a strong poison. By the nineteen-twenties, sports organizations were attempting to stop the use of doping substances. But they lacked scientific ways to test for them.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25