Abstract:
Drugs have plagued the world of athletics for many years. They have existed since the early Greek games and continue to play a major role in today's athletics. The use of banned or illegal substances to enhance performance is known as doping. The drugs used for doping are often referred to as performance enhancing drugs. In this paper, the issue of doping is viewed from the perspective of track/field as a business enterprise. People are often quick to point a finger at the athlete in cases where drugs are pertinent. Looking at the whole scenario, at the whole "business" behind track/field paints a much clearer picture. From this angle, the stakeholders, those parties with an interest in USA Track/Field (the governing body for track/field in the United States) and its athletes, can be determined and their respective roles examined. USATF's stakeholders range from corporate sponsors to the athletes' themselves and all of them, like all stakeholders are profit oriented and consequently want to represent and be part of a winning business. To have a profitable track/field business, one must have winning athletes and achieving this goal often entails going through all possible means, including doping.
