Since the existence of  the Olympic  Games it is widely accepted that these particular Games are tightly related to the action of doping.

The story begins in 776 B.C in Ancient Greece. There is evidence that a few competitors were doped with a special kind of drink before the games. It was consisted of red wine and a drug called  “Strychnine”. The athletes consumed that in order to boost their effectiveness and achieve their goal. But such a thing was considered to be illegal and thus totally irrelevant to the Olympic spirit of the games.
Unfortunately, even today doping poses a temptation to hundreds of athletes around the world and simultaneously dominates the athletic world. On contemporary Greece there are some instances of doping which have been black pages in the history of the Greek representative squad. One vivid but shameful example is Chalkia’s case. She took part in the Olympics of 2004 with a record of 52:82 and as a result she won the gold medal in 400m .Comparing  her past record in 2003 (56.40) the improvement was stunning. This fact triggered the committee of the WADA who conducted more frequent doping control on her. Finally, in 2008 illegal substances were found in her sample. This was when WADA banned from the Olympic games of 2008.
Another notorious example was Kenteris and Thanou’s case. WADA being suspected of their records asked their samples before their participation to the Olympic Games of 2004.They refused to give, making up silly excuses and the whole Greek world condemned them.
The above two cases in combination with the last case of the eleven power lifters in 2012 made Greece’s name heard all over the world once again.
All these instances contribute to realize that the total devotion in the field of sports sparks the use of illegal substance in order the participants improve their capabilities and gain fame in one night by forming a popular brand name through the Olympic Games.

Bouroulidis Paisios