Dying to win, 2nd ed.

Book abstract:

Doping in the sports world is taking on dramatic proportions. Today, doping may make the difference which could win an athlete a gold medal, lucrative sponsorship and global adulation. But doping undermines the integrity of sport and is a real danger to the health of thousands of athletes. Drug abuse in sport has now become an acute international problem.

This fully revised edition of 'Dying to win' has been updated to take into consideration new forms of drug abuse in the sports world. It also mentions new developments in genetic engineering and gene therapy, as well as providing a list of useful internet sources.

It answers key questions including: What sports rely on what drugs to sustain performance or to build up the appropriate muscles? How do certain drugs affect the athlete's body? How are such drugs monitored, what masking agents are applied to hide their use and how do monitoring systems stay ahead of new drug practices?

One of the main messages in this book is that the control of doping ranging from the practicalities of monitoring and coverage of major events to the harmonisation of both practice and policy among the major world sports bodies, requires a re-evaluation of the direction of future anti-doping policy, particularly in the light of the recent establishment of the World Anti-Doping Agency.