This Simple Solution Might Stop Doping in Sports Once and for All

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Doping1dope給……用興奮劑。in sports is back in the news.The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)has found “systematic failures” in drug testing and accuses Russia of bribing officials to cover up positive results,in a report released on Nov.9,2017.In the aftermath,WADA’s recommendation is to ban Russia from athletic competition.But what if2what if 要是……又怎樣。there were a simple solution to end doping in sports once and for all3once and for all一次了結地，一勞永逸地。?

體育運動中的興奮劑事件再次登上新聞。在2017年11月9日發布的報道中，世界反興奮劑組織發現了在藥物檢測中存在“系統故障”，并指責俄羅斯賄賂官員掩蓋陽性檢測結果。此后，世界反興奮劑組織建議禁止俄羅斯參加體育競賽。但是，如果有一個簡單的解決方案來杜絕體育運動中使用興奮劑，那會怎么樣呢？

[2]From the Incas4Inca印加人（古代秘魯原住民）。chewing coca leaves to ancient Olympians chomping5chomp大聲地吃（或咬、咀嚼食物）。opium,humans have used drugs to enhance performance for millennia.It wasn’t until 1928 that the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF)decided to ban doping in sports—a profession where “fairness”matters above most other factors.

[2]從印加人咀嚼古柯葉到古代奧運選手吸食鴉片，人類幾千年來一直使用藥物來提高比賽成績。直到1928年，國際田徑聯合會才決定禁止在體育運動中使用興奮劑 ——在該領域中“公平”比大多數其他因素都更重要。

[3]But a ban only works if the antidoping agency can detect performanceenhancing drugs.So,instead of ending doping,all the IAAF managed to do is create a never-ending race: The agency creates a reliable test for a certain performance-enhancing6performance-enhancing（尤指藥物）興奮性的（以提高在體育競賽的表現）。drug.Athletes,in turn,look for new drugs that the agency cannot detect.The agency develops new drug tests.And on it goes.

[3]但是，只有在反興奮劑機構能夠檢測到興奮劑的情況下，禁令才會有效。因此，國際田聯所做的不是終止使用興奮劑，而是要制造一場永無休止的競爭：該機構為一些提高運動成績的藥物創建了可靠的檢測。運動員，相應地，也在尋找該機構無法檢測到的新藥。而該機構又要開發新的藥物檢測。如此往復。

[4]After decades of cat-and-mouse,athletes found what they must have believed to be the ultimate doping agent:their own blood.

[4]經過幾十年貓捉老鼠的游戲，運動員們發現他們必須相信最終的興奮劑是：他們自己的血液。

[5]To enhance athletic performance with your own blood,you draw blood and store it in a freezer.Your body compensates by creating more blood.Then,months later,just before a competition,you can re-inject the old blood for a boost.As the red blood cell count goes up,so does an athlete’s ability to absorb oxygen.The more oxygen you grab with each breath,the more energy your body is able to burn and the better you are able to perform.

[5]為了用自己的血液提高運動成績，可以抽血并把它儲存在冰箱里。身體產生更多的血液加以彌補。然后，過幾個月，在比賽之前，便可以重新注入舊血液來增強動力。隨著紅細胞數量的增加，運動員吸氧能力也隨之增強。每次呼吸所吸取的氧氣越多，身體能夠燃燒的能量就越多，而且表現就會越好。

[6]Although the enhancement is small compared to actual drugs,it can be the difference between a gold medal and a silver medal.Best of all,“extra blood” was never something WADA tested for.

[6]盡管與實際藥物相比，這種增強作用較小，但它可能是金牌和銀牌之間的差距。最重要的是，“額外的血液”是從來沒有被世界反興奮劑組織檢測過的東西。

[7]But the anti-doping agency wasn’t going to sit by7sit by袖手旁觀。and be fooled.What it came up with8come up with想出，提出（計劃、想法等）。in response might be a solution to stop doping once and for all:an athlete biological passport9簡稱ABP，專業運動員的電子生物信息記錄。.The idea is to record some biological traits of an athlete through testing done at regular intervals.The biological passport’s partial implementation—recording blood and steroid levels—began in January 2014.

[7]但是反興奮劑機構不會遭受蒙騙而坐視不管。它所提出的回應或許是杜絕使用興奮劑的終極解決方案：運動員生物護照。這個想法是通過定期檢測來記錄運動員的一些生物特征。生物護照的部分實施——記錄血液和類固醇水平——從2014年1月開始。

[8]When all necessary biological traits are finally incorporated,WADA will no longer need to worry about finding new methods to detect a drug.It will only have to detect resulting changes in the body.In the case of blood doping,if the athlete’s normal red-blood-cell count is,say100 say比方說；假設。,47%,but then is found to be 51%after a competition,foul play11foul play（尤指體育比賽中的）不公平行為，犯規動作。may have been involved.

[8]當所有必要的生物特征最終結合起來時，世界反興奮劑組織將不再需要為尋找檢測藥物的新方法而擔心。它只需要檢測身體結果的變化。在使用血液興奮劑的情況下，如果運動員的正常紅細胞計數為，比如說，47%，但在比賽后卻發現為51%，則可能涉嫌犯規。

[9]WADA is confident that the biological passport could even deter genetic changes—the ultimate,ever-lasting enhancement—which are surely coming next.If an athlete inserts a performanceenhancing gene,it will probably leave detectable changes in the body,that would differ from the athlete’s profile12profile概述；簡介。in the biological passport.■

[9]世界反興奮劑組織確信，生物護照甚至可以遏制基因改變——極度的、永久的增強——這肯定會成為下一步的目標。如果一個運動員植入一種提高運動成績的基因，它可能會在身體中留下可檢測的變化，因為和運動員在生物護照中的狀況不一致。□