Letters to the editor

This refers to the editorial “Armstrong plunge” (FE, January 19). Seven Tour de France titles. The man—Lance Armstrong—literally had a free ride for more than a decade, starting 1999. Think of Jan Ullrich, who was eternally second to Armstrong. Well, maybe, he gets the titles now that Armstrong is stripped of those—but who will compensate him for the time lag, and product endorsements lost? Drugs are not new to sport. Who hasn’t heard of the 1988 Seoul Olympics saga involving Ben Johnson? And, athletes were known to be on steroids even before that. The USADA (US Anti Doping Agency) and WADA (World Anti Doping Agency) have only been sluggish on countering drugs in sports. Is it okay if each and every athlete is made to pass through extensive and tiresome drug tests every he goes playing? More than his practice schedule, it is the screening schedule that tires him, making sport less of fun it is supposed to be and more of a sort of school examination! So, to make screening as less as possible, one may perhaps start allowing athletes to use drugs. After all, one doesn’t know whether a child taking milk fortified with Boost (a supplement brand for kids and young alike) will perform better at school games than a child drinking plain milk. Soft drinks are also stimulants, in a way. What is Red Bull, after all? But there is no way to regulate them. Tomorrow, someone might find a new drug that

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