Fans across the world crave fairness in sport, placing great importance on athletes competing without the aid of illegal substances.
Sport is littered with examples of high-profile cheats, with Ben Johnson, Marion Jones and Russia being the most infamous.
While fans are rightly unhappy about the use of performance enhancing drugs, there is far greater acceptance that legal supplements are part and parcel of modern sport.
Experts have forecast that the global sports nutrition industry will be worth more than $24 billion by 2025, rising at an annual rate of 9.7 percent over the next few years.
The anticipated rise is primarily been driven by the growth in use of supplements amongst elite athletes which has sparked an increase in demand from consumers.
The rise of legal supplementation
Legal sports supplements are expected to experience the largest compound annual growth rate over the next few years, with experts predicted annual rises of more than 10 percent.
Energy drinks, protein powders and pills are amongst the methods of delivery used, with athletes ultimately aiming to boost their performance from supplementation.
Some supplements contain banned substances, meaning athletes must be especially careful about what they put into their body.
Research into supplementation in sport dates back almost 100 years, although it didn’t truly take off until the Soviet Union embraced the genre during the 1950s.
The United States inevitably picked up on the benefits of supplements soon after and the sporting landscape was changed forever.
Fast forward to the 1990s and major English football clubs like Arsenal were reaping the benefits of supplementation after then-manager Arsene Wenger introduced it into his players’ training regimes.
Legal supplements like creatine and whey protein powder have since become an integral part of modern sport, giving top-class athletes a major boost in performance.
The good guys lead the way
While there are plenty of sports stars who break the rules, there are significantly more who stay the right side of the line.
Men’s tennis is a great example of this, with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic leading a golden age for the sport.
Djokovic in particular is a shining beacon of what it takes to be successful, transforming himself from a fragile injury-prone player into a world-beater.
A change to a gluten-free diet made a huge difference, while the introduction of supplementary products further boosted his performance.
Nadal and Federer are also not shy about embracing the benefits of sports science, with their longevity at the top of their profession undoubtedly a result of harnessing the positive aspects associated with the medium.
With the trio still engaged in an epic battle to claim the most Grand Slam titles in history, it is easy to see why being a ‘clean athlete’ has such appeal.
Leagues must do more
The widespread doping scandal surrounding various Russian sports has highlighted why it is important to ensure that athletes are clean.
The four North American major sports league – NBA, MLB, NFL and NHL – have their own testing policy for illegal substances.
However, it could be argued that there is still a long way to go with regards to ensuring that sport is played in a fair environment.
Russian ice hockey star Evgeny Kuznetsov was recently banned for four years by the International Ice Hockey Federation after testing positive for cocaine.
However, the NHL suspended the forward for just three games for the offence, proving that sport must work harder before it gets to grips with the use of substances.
Many leading pundits blasted the decision and Kuznetsov can count himself extremely fortunate despite his subsequent remorseful behaviour.
WADA promises to deliver clean sport
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Education Committee met earlier this year to discuss how it could help to provide a platform for clean sport.
The group are set to meet again during WADA’s next World Conference on Doping in Sport in November 2019, with a view to providing a framework to deliver fair competition across the sporting spectrum.
Catherine MacLean, Director, Education and Communications for WADA, said: “Clean sport education, which is a key prevention strategy under the World Anti-Doping Code seeks to help athletes and others avoid inadvertent anti-doping rule violations; and, to promote behavior that is in line with the values of Clean Sport.
“It’s clear that an athlete’s first experience with anti-doping should be through education rather than doping control. The Committee and WADA Management are determined to make this a reality.”
The WADA website contains a comprehensive list of supplements that athletes can use to enhance performance, meaning there should be no excuses if someone falls foul of the rules.
Sports fans and the majority of top athletes want an environment where being clean is rewarded and they will collectively hope that WADA can deliver on its promises over the next few years.
