Group items tagged

Unfortunately, sometimes so are steroids. For decades, athletes have used anabolic (meaning muscle-building) steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs to build strength and endurance. And those drugs are getting more and more sophisticated in an effort to evade detection. Doping, as the practice is called, is illegal and, by most people's standards, unethical. Athletes who have been caught using these drugs have been stripped of their Olympic medals and world records and banned from their sports, sometimes for years, and on occasions for a lifetime.

"There are rights and wrongs in life, and if it's against the rules, it's cheating to do it," says Wiese-Bjornstal. "I love sports, but some athletes treat elite sports as if they are life itself, more important than their health, their loved ones, and even their lives."

In addition, steroids mess with your body. Potential side effects include high blood pressure, strokes, nausea, sleep problems, increased aggressiveness, and severe mood swings. In men, steroids can reduce sperm count and cause impotence, breast growth, and shrunken testicles. In women, side effects can include reduced breast size, increased body and facial hair, a deepened voice, and menstrual problems.

With the risks and consequences of steroid use so high, why do some athletes continue to dope?

"The major underlying factor [with steroids use] is that winning at all costs is the most important thing," says Diane Wiese-Bjornstal, associate professor in the School of Kinesiology.

She says that athletes that use steroids often have the mindset that "they are demonstrating that they are as highly committed to their sport as they can be and are doing whatever it takes to prove to themselves, their coaches, and to the world that they are true athletes who will do anything to win."

From a moral and ethical framework, Wiese-Bjornstal believes this is twisted thinking. "There are rights and wrongs in life, and if it's against the rules, it's cheating to do it," she says. "I love sports, but some athletes treat elite sports as if they are life itself, more important than their health, their loved ones, and even their lives."

She also says there is pressure to dope because of the belief that everyone else is doing it, and that if an athlete wants to compete at the highest level, she or he has to do it, too.

Nancy Cullen, a sports psychology consultant for the University, says the temptation to use steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs simply comes down to the rigors and pressure of elite competition and the desire to win. She cites an alarming poll taken in 1995 of 198 sprinters, swimmers, power lifters and others, most of whom were Olympians or aspiring Olympians. The poll asked if the athletes would take a banned performance-enhancing substance if they knew if would help them win and they wouldn't be caught--195 responded, yes.

Most athletes train for perfection," says Cullen. "The drive to achieve and win is so strong. If the difference between winning or losing is a hundredth of a second, and there is a drug that might give you the edge, the temptation can be great."

For some Olympic events, steroid scandals have cast a pall over the games, leaving viewers to wonder after each win, "Did he take drugs? Did she?"

Both Wiese-Bjornstal and Cullen agree that education, beginning with young athletes, is important in the fight against steroid use, as are drug testing and stiffer penalties for those who are caught. They also believe that coaches and parents play an important role in supporting the healthy ambitions of developing athletes.

"It's important to teach athletes to know what the consequences are and to learn other training practices that are legal and don't involve taking drugs," says Cullen. "Strive to win, strive for perfection, but do it within the rules of the game."

Barnstormers, who were in fact aerial showmen, fired the imagination of aviators and skydivers after World War I. The barnstormers showed airborne performances and parachute jumps and travelled every year throughout the United States. Competitions began as a result of the increase of parachuting awareness. The first contest of accuracy landing was held in 1930 in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

The military used paratroopers in World War II , that is between 1939 and 1945. The paratroopers were parachute-equipped soldiers and had the most famous use on D-Day, the invasion of Normandy (Normandie), France, on June 6, 1944

The surplus of nylon parachute equipment after World War II and the fact that the U.S. Army had started the first military sport parachuting clubs, set the grounds of skydiving in the United Dtates, as a pleasant and relaxing activity. The same thing happened in many other countries, and thus , the first parachuting world championships were organized in 1951 in Yugoslavia.

Little by little, in the mid 1960, systems specially made for sport parachutes took the place of the military surplus systems. Parachutists started to call this activity skydiving and calling themselves skydivers. In order to improve the opening characteristics and to make them more maneuverable, there were a few sport modifications to military parachutes. A French Canadian kite builder, Domina Jalbert, developed in 1964 the the ram-air design, that has set the tendencies for parachutes in skydiving from then on.

Sport skydivers constantly tested new and revolutionary designs and materials. Apart from sport uses , there have also been designed sport-generated designs like military HAHO (high altitude, high opening) designs, smoke jumping designs and many types of equipment for two-person and four-person tandem jumping. The military HAHO designs allowed soldiers to silently fly over large areas. The smoke jumping designs aimed to put firefighters into remote forest fires from low altitude.

Skydiving has kept on becoming more and more popular after the late 1980s, and this is because the equipment, that is reliable, lightweight, and easy-to-operate, picture this sport as accesible to many people. The U.S. president George H. W. Bush also jumped , thus increasing the popularity of skydiving.

Simply said, gymnastics is a dangerous sport.

If your son or daughter wants to participate in gymnastics, especially at a competitive level, chances are you'll deal with an injury at some point or another.

There will be injuries in gymnastics. It's the nature of the sport.

A recent study by McLean Hospital researchers has found widespread abuse of steroids and the use of other performance-enhancing drugs in many women bodybuilders. In addition, the study also found that many women bodybuilders suffer from eating disorders and other body image disorders.

utomatic temperature

cruise control,

eated leather sports seats

control,

Sirius satellite radio.

nine speaker audio

Alfa Romeo Bertone BAT 11 Concept heads for limited production

Ronn Motors' $150K Scorpion would do Captain Planet proud

Lightening GT All-electric sports car comes with a pricey tag

Pimped-Put Bentley Gold for Bling-Lovers

Pimp My Ride!

DC Designs' Ambierod - Most expensive designed car ever shown at Auto Expo

Top ten luxury cars gearing to burn the road

Big cars, big bills - Luxury doesn't come cheap

The New Ford Mondeo Deemed Allergy Free

Toyota Launches World's Most Expensive Hybrid for $104,750

2008 Rolls-Royce Corniche Convertible All-Set to Debut

The Mercedes luxury cars epitomize several years of design that have made Mercedes Benz become one of the most illustrious luxury brands in the world

The Iconic GTR Roadster is being introduced at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance Car Show. For the uninitiated, only the most beautiful and luxuriously designed cars are showcased at Concours d’Elegance

Some people buy them for the comfort or features, and some just to make a statement

Texas-based Ronn Motors are out to spoil their customers and that too in some style

If you had been worrying about all the fuel your luxury sedan or the sports car you bought recently consume, then you are not alone

If you think Bentley is a bit less classy to justify your blingy lifestyle then you are in for a surprise with this pimped-out Bentley’s Gold version from ASI, the Japanese tuner specialized in Bentleys

Beau Boeckmann of Galpin Auto Sports whose pimped rides have been featured earlier in MTV's "Pimp My Ride."

Dilip Chhabria of DC Designs will officially unveil his super luxury concept car dubbed Ambierod on January 10, 2008 at the Auto Expo

Super luxury cars have been here after Karl Benz got that first patent for a motorwagen in Germany in January 1886

Skydiving is a natural sport to develop from army training.

many expert skydivers found their passion after joining the army.

So it seems army skydiving has gone from being a skill developed to get into enemy territory quickly and efficiently, to a spectator sport appreciated by the masses.

obedience trials

"It's unfair that people keep saying the Chinese are too young to compete,"

Half of the team - He Kexin, Yang Yilin, Jiang Yuyuan - is under age if online sports registration lists in China are correct. The international gymnastics federation, however, said those gymnasts were eligible and that the ages on their passports were correct.

China's floor routines were not perfect, but they were good enough to win.

The aftermath of the competition can also be emotionally difficult, and neither team faced easy questions after the competition.