The Straight Dope on Gene Doping

Professional sports are at the peak of their power.

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"Another time in Ireland, a policeman stopped an ambulance at a roundabout to let our team coach (bus) pass. Someone could have been dying in the back of that ambulance and this guy stopped it to let us through!"Tony Cascarino1

Professional sports are at the peak of their power. Sports coverage commands more column inches – front page and back – and more airtime and bandwidth than politics, education, science, the arts, media, and religion. We can't seem to get enough of it; it has become the dominant force in our culture. Sports matter.

The rewards for athletic prowess are spectacular – preferential treatment ahead of emergency vehicles is a just a minor, if telling, ingredient in the indulgent feast. Little wonder then that some sportsmen and women – and the people who control them – will be tempted to go to any lengths to improve their performance.

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  • Richard Gallagher

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