MANY ATHLETES WHO use illegal drugs do not want to stop using illegal drugs. They want the competitive edge that comes from steroids and other PAAs, and often they have the support of their trainers. Sports federations and professional organizations worldwide know that many participating athletes use drugs. They conduct tests to find and punish those who do.

Testing begins

Testing for the use of illegal drugs has been in place since before many of today's top athletes were born. Responding to a growing concern about drug abuse, the International Olympic Committee Medical Commission was begun in 1967 to help stop drug abuse.

But the commission knew that making rules was only the first step: it could not control drug use unless it had ways to find and punish those who broke the rules. Drug testing first appeared at the Olympics in 1968 at the Summer...