4 ms·

There are a lot of factors, however for better or worse PEDs are likely a huge portion of this. I don't think folks realize just how pervasive their use is in a

• Someone 2y ago
  “PED” isn’t a precise term. I think most sports, at top level, are kind of clean in that athletes adhere to doping regulations. They also sail extremely close to the limits, though. For example, exercise induced asthma is extremely common for athletes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exercise-induced_bronchoconstriction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exercise-induced_bronchoconstr...: “Research by sports scientist John Dickinson found that 70 percent of UK-based members of the British swimming team had some form of asthma, as did a third of Team Sky cyclists, compared to a national asthma rate of eight to ten percent, whilst a study by the United States Olympic Committee in 2000 found that half of cross-country skiers had EIB.” Many of those athletes will use medicine to correct for this that enhances their performance. That isn’t that different from taking corticosteroids to cure an inflammation that thus allow athletes to train at higher intensity, but the former is medicine and the latter is forbidden medicine aka doping.
  • eszed 2y ago
    > taking corticosteroids to cure an inflammation that thus allow athletes to train at higher intensity, but the former is medicine and the latter is forbidden medicine aka doping. Is that a UK-specific sporting regulation? In the US, professional athletes regularly take cortisone shots with no repurcussions.
    • nradov 2y ago
      That varies by the league. USADA/WADA rules are fairly strict about corticosteroids but some US professional sports have looser rules.