Cyclist on racing bike in-motion with blurred background. Image by Pexels from Pixabay.
Mateo Fesslmeier is a biology major and a 2024-25 health care ethics intern at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. Views are his own.
"You can't win the Tour de France on mineral water alone.” These are the words of famed cyclist Jacques Anquetil, who dominated the sport for the majority of the 1950s and 60s, winning the coveted competition an impressive five times. Although Anquentil stands as a pinnacle of athletic achievement, his lighthearted remark hints at a darker side of sports–one where the pursuit of victory comes at the cost of integrity and a person's own natural ability and discipline. The pursuit of greatness, a defining feature of athletic ambition, often collides with the essence of fair play as athletes strive for victory at all cost regardless of the consequences they may face. From performance-enhancing drugs to cutting-edge genetic modifications, athletes have long sought external advantages to push beyond their natural limits, but at what cost?
Fair play, victory earned through internal factors such as skill, strategy, and effort, becomes blurred when science and technology offer shortcuts to success. Lance Armstrong, once revered as the pinnacle of perseverance, shows what happens to athletes when they do not have higher standards for themselves and instead cut corners to win. His seven Tour de France victories were fueled not just by relentless training and natural ability, but by an elaborate doping scheme that eventually stripped him of his titles. He would later attempt to justify his actions by claiming that doping was rampant in cycling, while in the process tarnishing his own reputation and the very nature of competition.
As high-caliber athletes, both Anguentil and Armstrong had the fulfillment to compete honestly and within their natural ability. Their lack of commitment to a higher ethical standard created an environment of dishonesty where athletes feel pressured to cheat as a way to not fall behind their competition. The phenomenon of sports enhancements extends far beyond the sports of cycling with threats to the world of sports coming in many variations from genetic modification to biomechanics that go beyond traditional doping.
When it comes to the ideals of fair play in sports, all participants should have an equal and just opportunity to win based on their internal abilities. Victory should be based on skill, strategy, and effort, not on external factors that enhance athletes’ abilities giving them an unfair advantage over their competition. Fair play promotes competition by creating an environment where winning is earned through genuine effort and adherence to the rules. Without fair play, competition loses its meaning as results are based on unethical advantage rather than true athletic ability. Ultimately, fair play serves as a way to maintain the dignity of the sport, rewarding those who demonstrate dedication, natural ability, and integrity over those who seek shortcuts through unethical means that undermine human achievement.
Although most people typically think of doping when it comes to sports enhancements, it comes in many variations from biomechanics to genetic enhancement. Traditionally speaking, drugs like erythropoietin (EPO), which stimulates the production of oxygen-carrying cells in the blood, and human growth hormone (HGH), which enhances strength, are banned by organizations like the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). WADA spends millions of dollars every year promoting research, testing, and education against banned substances.
These organizations make it hard for athletes to cheat but that does not stop some whose desire to win, or other external factors, push them to make unethical decisions. Take for example 15 year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, who tested positive for a banned substance trimetazidine at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Although tests were conducted by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA), they were not revealed until after the event concluded.
Valeria and her coach claimed her grandfather dropped one of his medications into her food causing the positive test result to occur. The lack of honesty by Valieva, her coaches, and RUSADA reveals the ethical issues surrounding doping in sports. When the desire to win overrides the need to do what is right, it not only damages the integrity of competition but sets a dangerous precedent for young impressionable athletes. Valievas story goes to show how young competitors can be caught in a system that prioritizes victory over values. Cases like this highlight the immorality of performance enhancing drugs, and illustrate how doping has no place in sports.
Another enhancement method in sports comes in the form of biomechanics, which include smart materials that enhance the athlete's performance beyond natural capabilities. Biomechanics, like the high-tech swimsuits used in the 2008 Beijing olympics, significantly reduce drag underwater, decreasing swim times by enhancing the swimmers speed and efficiency. However, they were eventually banned by World Aquatics, swimming’s governing body, as they were deemed to give some athletes an unfair advantage over those relying solely on their internal abilities. Some could argue that biomechanics like the high-tech swimsuits reward internal factors like skill and strategy while performance-enhancing drugs are completely external. However, the line between these two types of enhancements becomes blurred when technology offers an unfair advantage for athletes that have the financial means to access it.
One final major variation of enhancement in sports comes in the form of genetic enhancement. To the best of our knowledge, gene editing technologies like CRISPR and gene therapy, could improve physical abilities like endurance and recovery. This raises concern about the authenticity of performance as it conflates natural talent and artificially engineered ability.
Part of the appeal of sports lies in the fact that some athletes are born with natural abilities that surpass that of most other individuals. If athletes' abilities are the result of genetic modification, their accomplishments lose their meaning, reducing the value of training and strength. Ultimately, genetic enhancement does not belong in sports as it undermines the spirit of competition.
Even if these enhancements were unrestricted, they are still morally troubling as they tarnish the reputation and integrity of sports. They reduce human agency by making it less about natural factors like talent, hard work, and grit, and more about external interventions.
The existence of enhancements highlights the deep human desire to perfect and reshape nature, not accepting the world as it is. This undermines the idea of humility, in which the individual has an understanding of their inner abilities, and accepts them for what they are. True victory is achieved by dedicating oneself to the process of self-improvement, and being passionate about training and performance regardless of the final outcome. A lack of gratitude for one's own abilities and limitations feeds into the mindset of never having enough.
Ultimately, enhancement in sports is unethical because it shifts the mindset of the athlete from the process to the destination. Tragically, these athletes are so caught up in winning that they cut corners to get there. However, the true reward of sport is in the process itself, with victory coming as a close second. The athletes that find joy in working hard everyday, and slowly improving towards their goals without cutting corners, are the ones that are truly victorious in the end.