Whatever happened to everyone training hard, playing hard and whoever was the best won fair and square? (Sociological voices on the use of banned substances)

This chapter presents a sociological investigation into the perceptions of, and opinions about those involved in elite level sports concerning the use performance enhancing drugs. An interpretivist approach was adopted that sought to highlight the real life experiences of key stake-holders from the elite level of one particular high-profile, multi-event sport. The 'sociological voices' were crafted into non-fictional narratives and include contributions from an international competitor inexperienced at senior level, three Olympians, a Paralympian, an elite level specialist coach, and a senior administrator - of these, two were female. The data are presented in this way to synthesise the findings into an accessible form, and protect the anonymity of those involved. The main themes to emerge from the interviews and presented in the narratives include: the pressures and responsibilities of being an elite performer, the relation of performance to financial security, the fairness and integrity of sports, the perception of variable robustness of testing amongst different countries, differences between junior level and senior competition and between men and women.