The dopestars of sports

Recently Marion Jones admitted to having used drugs in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. her medals were stripped and she is to be given a 6-month prison sentence.

The Outlook interview also pointed fingers at former Indian captain Rahul Dravid

Martina Hingis testing positive for cocaine was the real shock. She retired from tennis soon after. She was however cleared after she retook the test

British tennis player Greg Rusedski, who was also initially accused of using nandrolone

Manchester United’s Rio Ferdinand was awarded an eight-month ban for not taking the drug test. He was also fined 50,000 pounds

Ajit Agarkar was among the cricketers apparently named by Anshuman Gaekwad

The number of sportstars who take performance enhancement drugs has gone up over the past few years. American cyclist Floyd Landis was disbanded in 2007 after he tested postive for testosterone during the Tour de France


Mohammad Asif pleaded innocence on the ground of lack of awareness. He was suspended for two years
Shoaib Akhtar straight off said he hadn’t taken any drugs. He was initially banned then acquitted and now recently prosecuted again.

Shane Warne tested positive for drug use and was banned from cricket for a year.

Anshuman gaekwad apparently said that Sachin needs steroids to boost his performance

The irony of this is biting. Days after Indian Sports Minister KPS Gill announced strict anti-dope measures preceding the Beijing Olympics, weightlifter Harpreet Singh tested positive for using steroids.

And he is just one in a long, world-wide line of sportstars who have been caught and summarily banned or fined for using performance enhancing drugs. NoGyan.com looks at a few prominent cases of drug abuse in the past years.



The most talked about case is of Canadian athlete Ben Johnson who was stripped off his gold medal at the Seoul Olympics in 1988. He had won the record for the 100m dash and wanted to appeal the decision but it was not revoked. In 1993 he was banned for life from athletics because he tested positive again in 1992.



At the Sydney Olympics in 2000 star Romanian gymnast Andreea Raducan tested positive for using ephedrine. Not only was her medal withdrawn, so was her title.

The same year also saw the high profile case of American athlete Marion Lois Jones. It was only in 2007 that she admitted that she had used steroids to better her performance and then lied about it to the federal agents. She said, "...with a great amount of shame...I stand before you and tell you that I have betrayed your trust...and you have the right to be angry with me... I have let my country down and I have let myself down." Recently, The USA Track and Field group sent a letter to President Bush asking him not to commute Marion Jones’ six-month prison sentence.



Tour de France star Floyd Landis' urine sample showed high levels of testosteron in two consecutive tests. He was found guilty and disbanded in 2007.



Cricket’s history too has been tainted drastically as a result of the large number of cases of steroid use. The most prominent names are often the biggest ones. 2003 saw Australian spin-bowler Shane Warne fail a drug test just preceding the World Cup. In spite of Warne’s claims of innocence, he was pronounced guilty and banned from the game for a year.

Mohammad Asif and paceman Shoaib Akhtar both tested positive for using Nandrolone in 2006 and were suspended from the team for two years. While Asif pleaded on the ground of lack of awareness, Akhtar straight off said he hadn’t taken any drugs. He was initially banned then acquitted and now recently prosecuted again.

Indian cricket too has been no stranger to the mess. In 2001, Outlook published an interview with Anshuman Gaekwad saying a number of star cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Ajit Agarkar took performance enhancing drugs. Apparently he said, “Sachin is definitely talented, but that extra dose of steroid helps him hit the ball with greater punch." Gaekwad later denied making these statements and threatened to sue the publication.

The dark horse in the world of drugs is tennis. The most shocking of these cases is that of World No.1, Martina Hingis who tested positive for cocaine. The five time grand-slam winner is perhaps one who took this with as much dignity as possible.