Another year comes to an end – another year that will be remembered more for its villains than for its heroes. Once again, drugs scandals made some of the year's biggest sporting headlines. We're used to seeing athletes, cyclists and swimmers disqualified and disgraced, undoubtedly due to the greater number of tests carried out in their sports, but a never-ending list of other sports also came under suspicion this year.
You might say, "Does it really matter? Since everyone's taking some form of banned substance, the best man or woman still wins." I think it does. Taking performance-enhancing drugs results in serious health problems and leads to a greatly-reduced life expectancy. And the side effects are worse for young people, whose bodies are still growing. Because of the drugs problem in some sports, I'd persuade my child to take up another hobby if he showed promise as a cyclist, for example. The only solution is to create a DNA database for all sports, and to make athletes take drugs tests all year round. That way, the cheats would have no hiding place.