Antonio La Torre. Anti-Doping Education I Run Clean Workshop. Vilnius 2017

Transcription

1 Antonio La Torre Anti-Doping Education I Run Clean Workshop Vilnius 2017

2 Background As we know, doping phenomenon is enormously increasing in the last decades, representing in this way a worldwide concern. In 2015 Italy reported the highest number of doping cases in the world (72), followed by Russia (70), India (26), USA (26) and Kenya (24) 1. Athletics was the most doped sport with 203 cases, followed by cycling (98) and weight lifting (64)

3 Doping today Nowadays, the use of substances in the pursuit of a body ideal appears an increasingly accepted practice among youth and amateur athletes: literature reports a small but significant proportion (3-12%) of male adolescents have used anabolic-androgenic steroids at some point of their life; in adults the prevalence reaches the 70% 2 ; in Italy, in 2014, anti-doping tests were performed on 1427 young sportsmen and amateur sportsmen: 4% of them is found positive at doping and 73% said they were taking pharmaceuticals and health care products 2. Genetic doping. 2

4 Online Pharma shop Is it really so easy and cheap to buy EPO online?..yes! We tried to search Buy Epo Online and Buy Testosterone Online in Google.. What we found?? results for EPO and results for Testosterone!!!!

5 Doping is.business!! The business of doping is estimated to be around 200 BILLION of dollars. Mafias, pharmaceutical companies and large entrepreneurs manage the world's largest market after the cocaine traffic.

6 The newest alarming news 14 years old cyclist found positive to an anabolic steroid at a regional race (June 2017). Athletes as young as 12 are using performance-enhancing drugs in the hopes of emulating their idols (The Guardian, 2014). A study of more than 900 junior athletes carried out by Griffith University and the University of Canberra has revealed 4% of those surveyed have taken performance or image-enhancing drugs 3. Almost 5% of junior athletes say they have been offered performanceenhancing drugs 3. More than 10% believe their competitors are also doping

7 How we have created Doping false-start This project wants to represent a key strategy to protect the integrity of sport. It informs students, young and amateur athletes, and fitness personnel about their antidoping rights and responsibilities, but also to engage young and pure human resources into the antidoping battle. Main goals: inform and train a group of experts in those sports fields more exposed to the doping phenomenon; spread an healthy anti-doping culture by sending these experts within crucial destinations: secondary schools, amateur track & fields athletes, and the world of fitness; to get rid of distorted and misleading models of present-day society: aesthetic hedonism, appearance, at-all-costs success, money&fame of top sports stars.

8 The beginning Recruitment of 50 experts: sport scientists, endocrinologists, exercise physiologists, coaches, sport psychologists, managers, etc. 32 hours of didactic-training for the experts. 48 hours of interactive-training for the experts. Seminars and workshops for fitness personnel, high school students, athletes and coaches. In the school year we launched a pilot study in 6 Italian regions, reaching high school students.

9 The school year Started in only Lombardy region, Doping offside reached over adolescents in 20 high schools (lyceum). From January 2017, we spread the project in all the regions. During the entire school year we reached students in over 100 high schools.

10 Seminars and Workshops Online questionnaires before the intervention in order to test the students knowledges concerning doping. Discussion about the following themes: What is doping WADA prohibited substances list: classification and legitimacy Effects on health and behaviours induced by performance-enhancing drugs Doping diffusion: fitness club, internet, education sites, amateur sports fields. Doping legislation: national and WADA- Doping criminality Ethical and health reasons intended to form negative attitudes toward doping Online questionnaires after the intervention in order to test the efficiency of the seminar.

11 Results & Feedbacks Young students were found to be unaware of the doping phenomenon and its relevance on the health. Adolescents are more attracted by clean sports and champions who reach their goal without shortcuts. This has been confirmed by the many questions and request for further in-depth meeting received during each intervention.

12 Doping off-side in the scientific community The project has been presented in a scientific congress for the first time on September 30, 2017 at IX SISMES National Congress placed in Brescia, Italy, raising a notable successful. Importance of a great scientific support behind Doping off-side campaign in order to involve more and more experts every year.

13 Future perspective For the next school year , we foresee to extend the project nationwide to all type of schools, in order to reach students. Cooperation with the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MIUR). Creation of a possible link with other Doping prevention programs, like the European project I Run Clean.

14 FINAL TARGET TO SPREAD A LEGAL AND FAIR CULTURE Culture of legality mainly means responsibility. It is the link between the single person and the group, the individual and the social justice, in order to built a common ideal. A common ideal often under siege by social inequality, leading corruption and a policy often unable to give effective answers to the community s actual problems.

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