Lewis Carroll

Gene doping is defined in the Oxford Dictionary as “the transfer of genes or genetically modified cells into an individual as a potential method for illicitly enhancing athletic performance.” It is is a relatively new method of modifying the human genome for the purpose of increasing athletic performance. Gene doping can be traced back to research presented in the late 1990’s concerning genetic modification of skeletal muscles (Barton-Davis et al., 1998; McPherron et al., 1997). The research…

The character Jesse Owens shows moral courage by valuing integrity in the face of personal adversity. Owens begins his story as a student at Ohio State University, where he joined the institution’s track and field team. It is here that he establishes the fact that he is an exceptional runner, albeit one needing just a few adjustments to truly perform his best. He receives help and support from his coach Larry Snyder, a former runner. With Owens’ mastery of his skills and the breaking of three…

“We all have dreams. In order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort.” -Jesse Owens. Jesse Owens was born on September 12, 1913, in Alabama. His real name is James Cleveland but is commonly known as Jesse. He was a black track and field athlete. This made it harder on him competing in high school and the Olympics. Because of his race, racism troubled his life, but that did not stop Jesse Owens from becoming one of the…

Maria Sharapova a famous athlete in the sport of tennis was recently caught using performance enhancing drugs. Meldonium is a drug that is quite often used amongst tennis players and other athletes. As of Friday the number of positive tests for the substance in 2016 across the sporting world was up to 140, this is becoming a huge problem for not only tennis athletes but athletes across all sport codes. What do we know about the substance, why was the Russian taking it and why was it banned…

For centuries, ideas that open up possibilities and enable men to become free of what constraints may befall them. One such idea that perhaps more than many is the idea of Utopia, Lewis Mumford in his book The Story of Utopias describes as such. Mumford was a historian, critic, sociologist and philosopher in his own right. His works ranged from urban architecture to urban planning, and to the study of the human condition. In The Story Mumford analyses a range of topics relating to the idea of…

Louie Zamperini, a WWII US prisoner of war survivor, inspired millions of people around the world. Zamperini was not only a U.S soldier, but a track star as well, qualifying for the 1936 Berlin Olympics at age nineteen. He finished in 8th place at the Olympic Games 5000m in 14:46.8 with a final lap of under sixty seconds. Louie was sent to war in 1942, where his plane crashed in the middle of the ocean. Along with two other survivors, they were stranded in the middle of the ocean for 47 days…

“TEN! NINE! EIGHT! SEVEN!” The sound of counting down got louder and louder as crowds started to count with the referee. It was the semi final of the interclass basketball competition of my school. My team was leading the game by one point. Knowing that there was nothing the opposite team can do, we started to have an early celebrate for entering the finals. To my surprise, our opponents started a counter attack, charging to our ring at full speed! With only less than six seconds, one of them…

Since the beginning of sports competition, athletes have always wanted to get a better edge over their competitors and will do anything necessary to do so. They go as far as to injecting themselves with drugs and taking supplements to make them bigger, faster, and stronger. A method otherwise known as doping; a process in which athletes use prohibited drugs or training methods to surpass their competitors. These athletes; steaming from all sports, have been misusing these drugs, not wanting to…

On a sweaty, sticky night in the Bird's Nest, Bolt was out of the blocks quicker and opened up an unassailable lead over the first 100m before coming away down the straight and jabbing his thumbs at his chest as he crossed the line. His 19.55 seconds was the fastest in the world this year, his speed and peerless championship class too good for American Gatlin, whose 19.74 was well outside his season's best. Jamaican Bolt, who will also compete in the 4x100m relay, said: "It means a lot to me…

Boxing originated when a person lifted a fist against another in play. Different eras of the sport have been distinguished by the use or nonuse of fist coverings. The ancient Greeks believed fist fighting was one of the games played by the gods of Olympus thus it became part of the Olympic games in about 688B.C... Rules around that time were amateur fights of 3 rounds, professional fights from 4 to 15 rounds. The recognized length of a championship fights is 12 rounds. Boxing diminished after…