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Soviet Participation EssayWhen the games were reinstated in 1920 and again in 1948, 9the Soviets initially declined to take part. The primordial goal of Socialist sports was to benefit the masses, non the elite athletes. Marxist-Leninist ideology intended all citizens to accede to enhance their own strength as well as the strength of the state. They believed that recreation and the training of the automobile trunk allowed workers to remain strong and healthy as well as productive. Health and productivity would also pull to building moral character and social responsibility. Since sports were intended for the masses, rather than for an athletic elite, the Soviet rulers saw no role for participation in the exceptional games.Soon after the 1917 revolution ended, Bolshevik leaders completed a state-run sports system, which consisted of hundreds of sports clubs as well as two large sports societies run by the secret police and the Army (Rosellini n.pag.). Unfortunately, as q uickly as these well- intended clubs were formed, their original purpose began to disintegrate. As early as 1926, the sports clubs were acc subprogramd of ignoring the vast mass of young people and focusing on the athletic elite, because the sports facilities were straying from their initial goal of supporting the masses and focusing on the athletically gifted (Rosselini n.pag.).Between the World Wars the Soviets remained separate from the games. but away from the rest of the world, they were devising a device to make their athletes rank among the best in the world. Finally, in 1948, the Soviets and their Satellites decided to challenge the West in the 1952 majestics. The ruling Soviet party demanded that government officials raise the level of skill, so that Soviet sportsmen might win the world supremacy in the major sports in the ready future (Rosellini n.pag.).To do this children were evaluated and if found suitable, were taken to live in sports factories. There, children wer e trained many hours a daytime and were secretly dosed with sex hormones. Child athletes were usually between the ages of six and eighteen in these training facilities and could conduct been taken from their parents as early as the age of three. Each athlete had his or her own trainer, doctor, masseuse, physiologist, and sports conceptualizer to plan an individual program. The outside world remained unaware of the Soviet design for sports dominance.Not until members of the Soviet Union entered Olympic competition did steroid use affect athletic achievement. The Soviet factories greatly threatened the ideals of the International Olympic delegacy. Competitive fair play and international cooperation were jeopardized by the Soviets desire for policy-making superiority. The factories were a symptom of one of the greatest threats to the Olympic ideals countries seeking political influence and international lore.The Soviets used these factories as a way to im strain the international standing of their country. If they came out on top in sports they believed they would come on to validate the communist political system to the rest of the world. But, Soviet athletes physically looked different. When swimmer Raik Hannemann was seventeen, his trainer approached him and said, Were passing play to try something secret, keep it to yourself. It will add two percent to your time and bring you to that extra level of excellence (Rosselini n.pag). Hannemann knew the blue tablets had to do something with steroids, but he didnt know what the side effects were and swear his trainer. He was even told to keep the tablets a secret from his parents. Once he took the performance-enhancing medicines his speed immediately change magnitude by six seconds (Rosselini n.pag).Athletes competing in a variety of sports were treated with performance-enhancing drugs, but the swimmers especially boasted abnormal musculature. The settle and spectators demanded explanations, of how these a thletes grew so grotesquely strong. Although no medical tests for sports enhancing drugs existed yet, in 1976, performance-enhancing drugs were placed on the International Olympic Committees banned substances list in response to the unproven Soviets steroid use in the recent Olympic games (Chidlovski n.pag.).10 A decade later the Olympic committee introduced newly designed doping tests to detect if athletes used the drugs in their training period rather than during competition.Some Olympic events, such as the Hungarian defeat of the Soviet water polo team in 1956 took a large symbolism importee (Sterngass pg. 37).Drug Use by Other CountriesOf course, the U.S.S.R. was not the only country to seek international recognition through Olympic success. Many other countries have defied the Olympic code by using performance-enhancing drugs as well. Sports became a propaganda tool and athletic success was closely tied to nationalism and patriotism (Sterngass pg.37). 11 As ornamentation cou nts became more important, the use of performance-enhancing drugs also became more prevalent. Steroids first threatened the Olympic ideals by countries seeking political superiority.Suspicion of steroid use began as early as 1968, but the drugs did not become parkland until the 1972 Olympic games (Steroid abuse in Sports-Steroid Abuse.com n.pag.)12 The East Germans joined in the use of performance-enhancing drugs early on as well. In 1968 East Germanys chief medical officer submitted a report to the government recommending the total and collective administration of steroids to all East German athletes (Steroid Abuse in Sports- Steroid Abuse.com n.pag.).In the twenty eld preceding this recommendation, Eastern Germany dominated nearly all international sporting competition. The East German drug use was yet another effort to prove their own superiority over the West, just as the Soviets had done just a few years earlier. Many East-German athletes were told that they were taking vita mins, rather than steroids. So, not only was the East German government practicing the use of inequitable drugs, but they were also lying to their own athletes and jeopardizing the long-term health of the individuals.Since then, as more drugs have been developed, drug tests and methods for testing have also expanded (Benagh n.pag.).13 In recent years, many American athletes have been incriminate and have tested positively for drug use. This kind of cheating is highly unethical and defies the Olympic code of fair play and good sportsmanship. Performance-enhancing drugs add a more political aspect to the games, causing slight focus on the actual competitive athletics. As more and more athletes defy the Olympic ideals, rules mustiness be regulated even more closely. These changes in rules also affect the spirit of the Olympics, which fosters an international look of community and competition. As more athletes break the rules, more stringent oversight ensues. This strict regulation takes more than of the integrity out of the games, diminishing the Olympic spirit. In the 2008 Beijing games alone, 4,500 athletes were tested only eight of those tested positive and were banned from competing (OLYMPIC GAMES n.pag.).14But, many more athletes also may have been guilty, perhaps they were not caught because the tests were not rigorous enough. Canadian sprinter, Ben Johnson, was just one athlete who was found guilty after loving an Olympic medal. In 1988, Johnson won the gold medal in the one hundred megabyte last(a) in the Seoul games, setting a world record and was considered the best one hundred meter runner of his time. However, just three days after winning Olympic gold, Johnsons urine pattern tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and his medal and records were stripped. Johnson was suspended from competition until 1991, but re-entered the indoor track scene and subject for the 1992 games, where he placed last. Just one year later, Johnson came clos e to a fifty-meter record, but again failed a drug test (Whooley n.pag). 15Marion Jones, a former track star who won five medals in the 2000 Sydney games, was convicted of steroid usage and all of her medals were stripped. Years later, evidence and testimony supported a conviction, sentencing Jones to six months in prison house (Mulero n. pag.).16