Sex, drugs and science: the IOC’s and IAAF’s attempts to control fairness in sport

Jörg Krieger, Lindsay Parks Pieper, Ian Ritchie

Publication: Contribution to journalJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Abstract

This paper traces the history of two important policies in sport: rules against drugs and ‘ambiguous’ athletes in women’s events. We identify three phases in the work of the International Olympic Committee’s and International Amateur Athletic Federation’s medical committees: (1) from the mid-1960s to the 1970s, the medical grounding of the committees and the members’ worldviews encouraged the groups to enlist scientific techniques to solve drug use and sex ambiguity issues; (2) from the 1970s to the 1980s, administrative confusion underscored both committees, but scientific personnel gained legitimacy and furthered their own agendas; and (3) from the 1980s to the mid-1980s, the seeds of diversion in sex and drug tests were sown. The central finding of this study is that the stakeholders who shaped anti-doping and sex testing policies took for granted concerns regarding ethics and instead increasingly relied upon medical, scientific, and technical practices to define and control fairness in sport.
Original languageEnglish
JournalSport in Society (online)
Number of pages19
ISSN1743-0437
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018

Citation