Today I heard someone on the radio concuring with my idea that there should be a completely drug free olympics and then a separate event for those that have "augmented" their capabilities. In particualr the radio guest was talking about "trashuman" athletes which might include those with not just drug based therapies but also genetic or even physical (think "bionic") ones too.
While I doubt I was the first person to suggest such a thing it was good to hear it come out of someone elses mouth. However, as I heard it I realised there was a big problem... If sports people were given free run at drug or physical augmentation that event would quickly fragment into many factions depending on which particular line of augmentation they had persued. Would genetically engineered athelets then want to compete with steroid or other drug enhanced ones? Should "bionic" atheletes (think Tour-de-France type "blood boosting" and mechanically reinforced bones and muscles) be allowed to compete together? Or is it just a free-for-all of anything goes?
Ultimately I would say the only thing that is meaninful is an athelete that has been drug and therapy free from day one. Anything else will quickly go to the lowest common denominator and become just a showcase for the drug companies.
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