Athletes Who Take Drugs
Question about Competiting Against Athletes Who Take Drugs
Mary Slaney (formerly Decker-Tabb): It is known that some female athletes, because of drugs, have a chemical advantage over their competitors. How can a natural athlete, such as myself, justify the use of world rankings, knowing that other athletes using drugs are consistently ranked higher than so-called natural athletes?
Sri Chinmoy: Sometimes it is good and necessary to know what others are doing. If one is a runner, this can encourage one's competitive spirit. Again, sometimes it is a great hindrance when we know what others are doing. It puzzles us and, at the same time, we have no inclination to adopt their methods. In cases like this, it is always good to depend on one's own natural ability.
Nature embodies the cosmic energy. This cosmic energy is infinitely stronger than any man-made chemicals. This energy comes from the ultimate Source and it leads us to the ultimate Source while fulfilling and satisfying us along the way. Chemi cals and other artificial things will ultimately fail, for they are unnatural. Anything that is unnatural is like a balloon. For a while it will dazzle us and puzzle our human mind, but eventually it will burst.
One of my poems speaks about naturalness. It says:
Live in naturalness
If you want to grow
Into the fulness
Of God's Vision-Reality.
Stay with your natural ability. Already you are a radiant example of nature's unquestionable supremacy over the so-called chemical miracles. You have been chosen as the US Athlete of the Year. You can definitely bring high, higher and highest glories in the running world not only to your beloved country, America, but to all mankind.
Mary Slaney set her first national junior mark in 1974 at 800 metres (2:01.8) as a high school student, a record which still stands. Her stellar career has lasted over 20 years. She still holds American outdoor records for 1,500m (3:57.12), set in 1983; one mile (4:16.71), set in 1985; 2,000m (5:32.7), set in 1984; and 3,000m (8:25.83), set in 1985. Her still-standing indoor American records are: 1,000m (2:37.6), set in 1989; 1,500m (4:00.8), set in 1980; and one mile (4:20.5), set in 1982. She won an exciting World Championships 1,500m gold medal in 1983. She has been a member of three Olympic teams.
Excerpt from Run And Smile, Smile And Run by Sri Chinmoy.
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Luckily in my sport British Time Trialling I think drug use is not a problem. I feel all my competitors are clean.
(There's hardly any incentive to spend £1,000s on EPO when first prize is £20.)
However it must have been difficult to be a professional cyclist on the continent when drug taking was rife. I really admire cyclists like Graeme Obree and Chris Boardman because you feel they always rode clean of any drugs. Its also a shame that professional cyclists are always somewhat tainted with suspicion because so many of their predecessors used drugs heavily.
- Richard
