Adaptive Technology and Fairness in Sports
Doping in sports is the use of illegal drugs to enhance performance. Doping is banned in many sporting events, including the Olympics and the Paralympics. WADA, the World Anti-Doping Agency, develops and enforces anti-doping policies in sports. Because doping is banned in many sporting events, it is very important that those rules are monitored and heavily enforced. The IPC website has a page dedicated to anti-doping. They have their own IPC Anti-Doping Code, which aligns with the World Anti-Doping Code. The IPC and WADA have partnered with the "Speak Up" program, which is designed to help catch dopers and stop them. Loss of points, disqualification, and individual consequences are the result of an athlete caught doping.
Boosting is a method that uses autonomic dysreflexia to put an athlete at an advantage over the other athletes in Paralympic sports. A study funded by the WADA and IPC define boosting as "the intentional induction of autonomic dysreflexia to enhance performance." Athletes with spinal cord injuries might not be able to regulate their blood pressure and heart rate the same as other athletes, which leads to poor performance and endurance. In order to combat this, they cause pain near their injury to increase their heart rate and enhance their performance. Not only does it put them at an advantage, it also puts them in danger. The study states that stroke, intracranial hemorrhage, and death can result from this practice. The IPC has rules and regulations in place to catch athletes who do this. The blood pressure of athletes are tested prior to competing, and the threshold recently changed from 180 mmHg to 160 mmHg.
Adaptive technology is a topic that faces a lot of controversy and debate around it. Adaptive technology can be simple or highly advanced. Some examples of adaptive technology are on the IPC website and include badminton chairs, that have a backrest and extra wheels in the back; cycling track race bikes, which have modifications depending on the impairment; release brace in archery, which aids an athlete in releasing the bow; running blades, which is a J-shaped prosthetic that aids an athlete when they push off of it; wheelchair basketball chair, which are modified to specific impairments; wheelchair racing chairs, which are light, stable, and fitted to the athletes body, and gloves, which provide extra pushing power; wheelchair rugby chairs, which are modified based on the impairment and are built to endure crashes; and tapping devices in swimming, which notify the athlete that they are nearing the wall.
Fairness in Sport
On the topic of adaptive technology, there is a lot of controversy and discussions about whether the use of these technologies is fair in sport. One of the biggest concerns is that there may be some athletes who cannot afford to buy highly advanced technologies. Some countries may have good healthcare, but access to assistive devices may be limited or unavailable for some individuals (Campbell, 2021). In disadvantaged nations that do not have good healthcare systems in place, access to even one wheelchair can be very difficult for those who need it (Campbell, 2021). In my opinion, in any disabled sporting event, athletes should compete against athletes with the same type of technology. In international competitions, such as the Paralympics, the accessibility, as well as financial issues, of these technologies in all competing countries should be taken into consideration before deciding which technologies are approved for competition.
Another topic of debate regarding adaptive technology is whether athletes who use these technologies should be able to compete in able-bodied sporting competitions. I think any technology that puts an athlete with a disability at an advantage over an able-bodied athlete should not be able to be used. However, if the technology only allows the athlete using it to do the same thing in the same way as the able-bodied athlete then it is okay to be used. This way, the outcome of the competition would show who wins fairly, without any other variables at play. This would have to involve many experts on able-bodied and disabled sports, adaptive technology, and the sport in question to to research and discuss which technologies would not disturb fair game.
Conclusions
The whole purpose of competitive sport is to show off natural talent. The athlete should work hard during practices to be the best they possibly can, and the competition is there to show off that hard work. The technology should only be used to make the competition fair or else the competition will not show off the athletes' true abilities and skills. Doping and boosting are not only unfair and foul play, but they have serious health risks associated with that no athlete should risk.
Adaptive technology is a tougher topic to find a clear answer on. I think the answer is not a direct yes or no. In some cases adaptive technology should be able to be used and other times it should not. If the adaptive technology makes the playing field equal, such as all athletes use the same type of technology or it puts an athlete with a disability on an equal playing field as an able-bodied athlete, then I believe it is okay to be used. If the adaptive technology is not accessible or affordable for some competing athletes or it puts an athlete at an advantage over another, then it should not be used. Having this advantage makes it unfair for all the athletes who do not have the advantage, which will make the results of the competition inaccurate.
References
Campbell, Anastasia (2021). Cost of assistive technology as a barrier to inclusion through
sport. https://www.ideasinall.com/cost-of-assistive-technology-as-a-barrier-to-inclusion-
through-sport/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=cost-of-assistive-
technology-as-a-barrier-to-inclusion-through-sport.
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