d primarily with being the worlds best at an event is one of the greatest reasons for athletes resorting to dishonest means. This is supported by a recent comments by Werner Reiterer, a dual Olympic and Commonwealth gold medallist, in his book “Positive”. Reiterer states that he decided to take drugs to make him competitive at an Olympic level, after winning Commonwealth gold at the 1994 Canada games. He also states “high-ranking Australian officials turned a blind eye” to his drug taking and even assisted him with information in some cases.In a recent Sydney Morning Herald newspaper article, Australian athlete and Atlanta Olympics 400m participant, Paul Greene said that the current way in which sports funding are linked to the number of medals was a “direct reward and encouragement for dopers”. He later said about high-ranking Australian sporting officials, “Stay clean and come fourth, and you're back waiting on tables. Take the pill and come third—and we'll pay your way.” These comments made by Greene were after his funding was cut after returning medal-less from the Atlanta games in 1996.Such is the financial reward for gold medallists that Cathy Freeman after her recent Gold medal win she received a payment of four hundred thousand dollars but is expected to earn in excess of three million dollars in the next three years through sponsorship and endorsements.Such are the pressures for success that athletes are overlooking the serious health risks associated with performance enhancing and growth promoting agents. A prime example lies within the statistics that as a result of using Erythropoietin (a relatively new breed of drug which stimulates bone marrow to produce more red blood cell), twenty to twenty-five young athletes have died in their sleep due to a vicious reaction to the stimulant. Another key indicator to the degree of pressure and incentive for athletes to cheat is the ...
