Drug Misuse in Sport: Types of Performance-Enhancing Drugs and Their Effects
Performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) are banned substances that performers use in an attempt to improve strength, speed, endurance, recovery or focus beyond what training and natural ability alone would allow.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Learn each drug category with its main effect and at least one sport where that effect would give a real advantage - do not just memorise a list of names with no linked effect.
- Learn the reasons performers give (or are believed) to use PEDs: financial reward, pressure to win from sponsors, coaches or themselves, a desire to recover faster from injury or training, and a belief that rivals are already using them.
- Learn the arguments against using PEDs: they are unfair to clean competitors, they carry serious health risks (which vary by drug category), they undermine the reputation of the sport and its role models, and they carry the risk of bans, disqualification and loss of results and income if detected.
- Be ready to match a specific drug category to a specific sport and explain exactly why that drug would help in that sport, rather than giving a generic 'it helps you perform better' answer.
- Know that testing (in and out of competition) and the sanctions for a positive test (such as a ban from competition, stripped results and reputational damage) are part of the deterrent system, without needing to memorise exact ban lengths, which vary and change.
- For an 'evaluate' or 'discuss' question on drug use, structure the answer as a reason for use, an argument against, applied to a named drug type and sport, then a supported judgement, in the same way as other socio-cultural evaluate questions.
Worked example
A weightlifter is found to have used an anabolic steroid before a major competition. Explain why this drug would benefit performance in weightlifting, and give one health risk associated with its use.
- Identify the drug's category and main effect: anabolic steroids are anabolic agents that increase muscle mass, strength and the speed of recovery from intense training.
- Link the effect directly to the sport's demands: weightlifting success depends almost entirely on maximal strength relative to body weight, so any drug that increases muscle mass and strength gives a very direct competitive advantage in this specific sport.
- Explain the recovery benefit specifically: faster recovery from anabolic steroid use also allows the weightlifter to train harder and more frequently in the lead-up to competition, compounding the strength gain.
- Identify a real health risk: anabolic steroid use is linked to serious health risks including liver damage, increased risk of heart disease, and hormonal disruption.
- Write the final answer: anabolic steroids increase muscle mass, strength and recovery speed, all of which directly improve maximal lifting performance, but their use carries serious health risks including liver damage and increased cardiovascular disease risk.
Practice questions
Type your answer and press Check to be marked straight away, or reveal the answer and mark yourself.
Q1Which category of PED increases muscle mass and speeds up recovery from training?Show answer
Answer: Anabolic agents (anabolic steroids).
Q2Name the category of drug used to mask pain, allowing a performer to compete or train through an injury.Show answer
Answer: Narcotic analgesics.
Q3Explain why a diuretic might be misused by a performer in a weight-category sport such as boxing.Show answer
Answer: A diuretic causes rapid water loss, helping the performer make a lower weight category quickly, which can give them a size or strength advantage over lighter opponents in that category.
Q4Which category of PED would most benefit a precision sport such as archery, and why?Show answer
Answer: Beta blockers, because they calm the body and reduce heart rate and hand tremor, improving steadiness and aim.
Q5Explain how EPO (erythropoietin) improves endurance performance.Show answer
Answer: It increases the number of red blood cells in the body, which increases the blood's capacity to carry oxygen to working muscles, improving aerobic endurance.
Q6Give one reason a performer might choose to use a banned PED despite the risks.Show answer
Answer: Pressure to win (from themselves, a coach or sponsors), the financial rewards of winning, or a belief that rivals are already using PEDs.
Q7Give one argument against the use of PEDs that is not directly about health.Show answer
Answer: It is unfair to clean, non-doping competitors and undermines trust in the sport and its results.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE Physical Education exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Explain two health risks associated with the misuse of anabolic steroids.
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Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
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'The pressure to win in elite sport means drug testing can never fully stop the use of performance-enhancing drugs.' Discuss this statement.
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See real GCSE Physical Education past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
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