Here is a tiny sample of news stories regarding athletes who got away with using PES&D and athletes who almost got away with using PES&D.
Bodybuilding is clearly involved with lots of different kinds of PES&D. The same applies for professional wrestling. The strong-man contests are also neck deep in PES&D. These entertainment sectors have zero to very low standards when its comes to testing for and banning the usage of PES&D. They take pride in being freak shows. They are modern-day circuses.
Concerning more legitimate sports, Mike Tyson was once a champion of heavyweight boxing. He used various recreational drugs, and hid this fact from drug testers by using a fake penis that contained someone else’s clean urine: “Tyson: I was high on drugs during fights... and I used a fake penis called a 'whizzer' to avoid getting caught” (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/boxing/article-2505411/Mike-Tyson-autobiography-I-high-drugs-fights-used-fake-penis-avoid-getting-caught.html). Mike Tyson’s usage of recreational drugs should not give him a performance advantage against his foes, but the fact that he easily tricked the drug tests indicates other boxers could use PES&D and get away with it.
Mike Tyson was a very talented boxer. His punches, footwork, and evasions were fast and powerful. He was tough enough to absorb lots of stiff jabs and powerful punches. His weaknesses include very average clinching techniques, above average stamina (not good, very good, or excellent), a below average height, and severe mental problems. Mike Tyson’s weaknesses were thoroughly exploited by Evander Holyfield.
Tyson’s superior speed, power, footwork, and evasions were greatly nullified by the superior clinching techniques of Evander Holyfield. Holyfield’s constant and superior clinching against Tyson also gradually tired out Tyson. When the opportunity arose, Holyfield used his superior height and reach to strike at Tyson from a safe distance. Tyson’s severe mental problems prevented him from understanding this and developing various counter-strategies and counter-techniques. Thus, Tyson clearly lost to Holyfield (twice), Buster Douglas, and Lennox Lewis.
Evander Holyfield won lots of money and fame from his very successful boxing career. Evander Holyfield probably used PES&D: “Evander Holyfield and steroids” (http://justnotsaid.blogspot.com/2014/03/evander-holyfield-and-steroids.html). Holyfield quickly added lots of muscle mass, and his alias was connected to a pharmacy, Applied Pharmacy Services, that secretly and illegally supplied PES&D to various athletes. Holyfield insists he is innocent. Haha.
Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire were famous Major League Baseball players during the 1990s. The two of them became successful heavy hitters. Both of them used PES&D: “Sosa reportedly tested positive for PEDs” (http://m.mlb.com/news/article/5355568/), and “ Mark McGwire finally came clean, admitting he used steroids when he broke baseball's home run record in 1998. . . .” (http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4816607). To summarize long and complex stories, both super-star players were very lightly punished and tremendously awarded for their secretive usages of PES&D. The baseball entertainment sector made lots of money from these two cheaters.
Another Major League Baseball player Jose Canseco said at least many athletes secretly use PES&D in order to achieve successful careers in professional sports (http://sportsanddrugs.procon.org/view.source.php?sourceID=007192). He said this dishonorable pressure to succeed comes from themselves, other athletes, coaches, sports-team owners, sports-team managers, and fans.
Professional football players (i.e., the NFL) use recreational drugs and various PES&D that are legal and illegal, because the NFL has low standards for drug tests: “Football players turn to PEDs to get physical, mental edge” (http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000103175/article/football-players-turn-to-peds-to-get-physical-mental-edge), and “How Can These Guys Fail a Drug Test?” (http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/135008328/sheldon-richardson-rolando-mcclain-suspended). According to various reports, the National Basketball Association (NBA) also has low standards or easy-to-cheat tests for recreational drugs and PES&D.
Lance Armstrong is arguably the most famous athlete for extreme endurance competitions, and he cheated with PES&D and blood transfusions. His teammates also cheated. Even his European competitors cheated. This was and still is a gigantic scam. A few competitive bicyclists cheat with hidden and illegal motors in their bicycles: “Mechanical Doping – How Does A Road Bike With A Hidden Motor Ride?” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv5F5N6mFf0).
Due to the US empire’s attempt to globally slander, internationally contain, and apply worldwide punishments against Russia, the Russian professional tennis-player Maria Sharapova was recently punished for using an illegal performance-enhancing-drug called meldonium (a.k.a., mildronate), which enhances blood flow or increases endurance: “What is meldonium and why did Maria Sharapova take it?” (https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/mar/08/meldonium-maria-sharapova-failed-drugs-test). Meldonium is mostly used by Eastern European athletes from various sports. Other Russian athletes and Russian drug-testing institutions were also exposed and punished for using PES&D.
Meldonium was only banned from various sports in the year 2016. Before this year, this performance enhancing drug was completely legal. Maria Sharapova said she has been using this drug for many years to prevent illnesses and NOT for enhancing her athleticism. This excuse is probably a lie. When athletes are exposed for cheating with PES&D, they frequently insist they use the drugs for their illnesses and not for enhancing their performances. Their medical doctors and/or pharmacists are obviously co-conspirators. Their teammates, trainers, coaches, and business managers are probably in on these scams. Their lies are driven by an intense pressure to succeed and the lucrative rewards.
Recently, both Russia and Kenya were accused of having sports organizations and governments that abnormally promoted cheating with PES&D: “Athletics faces scandal as leaked drug test results prompt experts to compare sport to cycling 20 years ago” (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-02/russian-kenyan-athletes-face-new-doping-allegations/6666014). According to this article, track-and-field athletes have a major problem with PES&D cheating. They get away with it, because they use PES&D at low concentrations. Ideally, they should not be using any PES&D. Various US and EU organizations seem to be focusing on punishing and banning Russian athletes as much as possible. This is more about politics than fairness.
Anyhow, professional athletes are clearly talented and thoroughly trained. Performance enhancing supplements and drugs (PES&D) cannot convert a person with average fitness and average skills into a professional athlete. The benefits of PES&D have their limits. From what I’ve read, PES&D could enhance an average fitness-level to an above average to good fitness-level, a good fitness-level to a very good to excellent fitness-level, and an excellent fitness-level to an elite fitness-level. Keep in mind there are vast differences between physical talents and physical techniques. A person with superior strength and clumsy skills cannot succeed as a pro-athlete. The opposite is also true: a person with inferior stamina and good skills will fail as a pro-athlete. In other words, at least many amateur and professional athletes use a combination of natural abilities, complex training, and PES&D to gain advantages over their competitors.
Generally speaking, everyone respects the usage of natural talents and complex training. At least some people are communists, extreme egalitarians, politically correct con-artists, die-hard cheaters, sore losers, green-eyed monsters, and so forth. These people dislike others who win or are more competent. On the other hand, the usage of PES&D is typically disliked by people. We all know technology provides fantastic benefits. We’re more fascinated by all-natural wonders. Driving a car for 120 miles is not amazing at all, because anyone could do that. However, jogging a 20-mile marathon is impressive, and winning in record time is spectacular. Using a semi-truck to move 15,000 pounds is a boring job. A 150-pound man lifting 375 pounds above his head is phenomenal.
However, the indulgence of one’s ego, others’ high expectations, and the rewards from success are strong motivators for cheating. Thus, we have amateur athletes, pro-athletes, medical doctors, pharmacists, coaches, training partners, teammates, and sports managers who conspire to secretly use PES&D while publically claiming they do not use and do not advocate the usage of PES&D. Then there is the drug industry, which constantly develops new PES&D.
Exposing PES&D cheaters is an elaborate and costly cat-and-mouse game that’s further complicated by global politics. I hope the Olympics and all sports events do a better job of minimizing the usage of PES&D and other cheating options. I do not think every cheater could be exposed and punished, but the cheating frequency could be greatly reduced.
Maybe we should have two types of sports competitions: The first type is for all-natural athletes, and they should be thoroughly tested for PES&D. The second type is for athletes who are allowed to use as much PES&D as they want.