Doping, On Penalty of Death

There’s never any shortage of grandstanding to be found when the subject of doping in sports arises, but Swedish biathlon star Bjorn Ferry took the extremely hyperbolic route in his latest denunciation of those who would use banned substances.↵↵⇥“If it were up to me, I would dish out the death penalty in doping cases. Or at least lots of kicks in the balls!”↵↵↵Possibly not the most practical means of enforcement, and, while the latter might be entertaining, it leaves unclear how female transgressors would be dealt with. Okay, I know I’m humoring a patently ridiculous statement made only to emphasize the point that, until harsher penalties are imposed, people will continue to cheat in perpetuity. Sorry, though: if the death penalty can’t do away with murder, it would be hard-pressed to do with the same with doping in sports.↵

↵↵Ferry’s ire is a bit quizzical, seeing as how there hasn’t been a doping case yet at the Vancouver Olympics. The closest the IOC has come is a warning issued to Russian hockey player Svetlana Terenteva for testing positive to a substance allowed during training but banned once competition begins.↵

↵↵Already the ball-kicking standard could have been tested.↵

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