Jun 10, 2018
Drug testing is a perennial topic in sports these days. High
profile suspensions, accusations at world champions and a clamour
for "clean competition" in the face of apparent state-sanctioned
doping has seen the subject's importance to the public seemingly
increase in recent years. This talk - part of our 2017 Edinburgh
Fringe run - will explore the reasons why drug testing fails to
catch organised cheats, and in many cases punishes the wrong
people.
Dr Paul Dimeo has been a lecturer at Stirling since 2002. He began
researching drug use in sport and testing from a historical
perspective. In essence, he wanted to find out when and why
athletes used drugs and when, who and why policies emerge to
control this usage. These questions underpinned his first book 'A
History of Drug Use in Sport: Beyond Good and Evil' (Routledge,
2007).
Subsequently, he researched doping in the context of the Cold War,
spending a semester at the University of Texas on a Fulbright
Commission scholarship (2012). Whilst a resident in Austin (Lance
Armstrong's home town), all the evidence about organised doping in
the American professional cycling team was published. This inspired
him to develop more contemporary interests in the social impact of
anti-doping policy, and the relationship of media scandals with
policy organisations. he is currently working on a second book with
Professor Verner Moller which explores the reasons for the current
crisis in anti-doping, questions of human costs of the war on drugs
in sports, and potential ways forward.