The Big Lie
Doping has become a common behavior among athletes, as they endeavor to enhance their work rate to win trophies. The failure of sports federations to eradicate doping is largely political, though many people interpret it as a moral wickedness of individual athletes. One of the athletes who have been accused of doping is Lance Armstrong, the legendary French cyclist. The movie dubbed The Program, showcases Lance Armstrong’s rise and fall in his sporting career. Although Armstrong did not admit his allegations immediately, he had already lost trust in society. After going through a life-threatening cancer treatment, Armstrong won several Tour de France titles, but they were stripped off owing to doping allegations.
Sport celebrities inspire other people, but when people realize that their idols are involved in drug use, the trust that has been put on them wanes. Doping is a form of drug abuse where the user is injected with performance-enhancing substance to improve his/her abilities. Many athletes who take drugs to enhance their performance do not admit their actions. In this film, Ben Foster, who acted as Armstrong, is seen rehearsing the statement that “I’ve never tested positive for performance-enhancing drug.” This implied that his words were not true: his high voice betrayed his innocence. The movie may have concluded that even the treatment that Armstrong had for testicular cancer could have been the result of taking the drugs.
Lance Armstrong’s sporting career came to a halt when he was confirmed to have engaged in doping more so after undergoing cancer treatment. Doping is considered as a form of deviance and moral profligacy, which is unacceptable in the sports fraternity. Armstrong ruined his status in society by admitting his allegations. The culture that permits athletes to take some drugs must be changed in order to succeed in the fight against doping (Delaney and Madigan 340). Athletes must be cautioned against taking performance-enhancing drugs as such drugs are a risk to their health, as well as their performance.
Work Cited
Delaney, Tim, and Tim Madigan. The sociology of sports: An introduction. McFarland, 2015.