This time next year the 2016 Olympic Games will be in full swing in Rio. Whatever surprises the sport may throw up, one issue is bound to be in the headlines: doping. Even this summer alleged cheating by taking performance-enhancing drugs has rarely been out of the news. The latest furore surrounds hundreds of blood tests leaked from the database of the International Association of Athletics Federations, which some experts claim are evidence of widespread doping.
來歲這個時刻，2016年奧運會就將在裏約熱內盧周全睜開了。不管這屆奧運會將帶來何種欣喜，頭條消息裏確定少不了一個題目：高興劑。就連本年炎天，有關活動員涉嫌服用高興劑做弊的消息也不停於耳。最新的驚動是環繞國際田徑結合會(IAAF)數據庫泄漏的數百份血檢成果，一些專家表現這是廣泛應用高興劑的證據。
Underlying the whole debate is a misplaced sense of moral outrage — a feeling that sport is intrinsically a clean contest between unenhanced athletes, being corrupted by evil drug pushers. The reality is that ever since people began competing for athletic honour and glory they have been willing to improve their speed, strength and accuracy in any way they can. Recently, the growing concentration of money and media attention on elite sports, together with the increasing opportunities to boost performance offered by science, has added to the pressure but not brought fundamental change.
全部爭辯暗地裏是一種錯位的品德惱怒感，認為活動的精華是一群沒有服用過高興劑的活動員之間舉行的清潔較勁，只是被險惡的高興劑藥商人搞壞了風尚。實際是，自從人類開端為了體育聲譽和光榮而睜開比賽以來，人類就一向樂意以統統手腕盡量地進步本身的速率、力氣和精確度。比年來，競技體育會合了愈來愈多的資金和媒體存眷，再加之科技提高增長了進步成就的機遇，這帶來了更大壓力，但並未帶來根天性轉變。
Once we acknowledge that enhancing human capabilities is an integral part of athletic competition, then the authorities in each sport have to lay down rules and decide how to enforce them. First, they have to regulate the external equipment used, from racing cars to racehorses, bicycles to tennis rackets. This is far from straightforward. Usually, the aim is to smooth out the introduction of new technology, so competitors do not suddenly gain access to something markedly superior that would unbalance the contest.
只要咱們認可進步人類才能是競技競賽的一個構成部門，那末各項活動的官方機構就必需制訂好規矩，並決議若何履行。起首，他們必需範例活動員所應用的外部東西，好比賽車、跑馬、自行車、網球拍等。這毫不是件刀切斧砍的事。平日情形下，這麽做的目標是公正支配新技巧的引入，讓選手沒法忽然得到技巧上顯著領先的設備，損壞比賽均衡。
Every sport needs equipment. Athletes and swimmers do not perform naked; what they wear affects performance. High-tech swimsuits to streamline the body have been particularly controversial. And the row over whether Oscar Pistorius, the South African double am瀀甀琀攀攀, should be allowed to run against able-bodied athletes — if carbon-fibre prosthetic limbs gave him an unfair advantage — could be a foretaste of future argument about bionic implants.
各項活動都少不了設備。田徑活動員和泅水活動員不會赤身競賽，而他們身上的穿戴會影響成就。讓身材呈流線型的高科技泳衣特別引發爭議。人們還評論辯論是不是應許可雙腿截肢的南非活動員奧斯卡皮斯托瑞斯(Oscar Pistorius)與那些身材健全的活動員同場競技，由於碳纖維假肢大概給了他不公正的上風，這大概預演了將來關於仿生植入物的辯論。
On the whole, however, regulating equipment is easier than controlling what competitors do to improve their own bodies through pharmaceutical intervention. People give two main reasons for preventing enhancement through doping. One is to stop athletes harming themselves. This argument only works to the extent that young or naive athletes should be protected from exploitation by coaches who push them to take drugs they know little about.
不外整體上來講，範例設備照樣要比掌握選手們經由過程藥物幹涉進步體能要輕易很多。在防備活動員經由過程高興劑進步成就的題目上，人們給出了兩個重要來由。一是阻攔活動員損害本身。這類說法僅對以下情形建立：應該掩護那些年青或稚子的活動員免遭鍛練應用，鍛練大概迫使他們服用一些奇奇異怪的藥物，
If an informed competitor knowingly takes the risk, that is fair enough. Sports people already put themselves in danger both of short-term harm through accidents and of longer-term health problems, such as the increased risk of dementia through repeated head injuries in boxing and American football.
假如選手是州官放火，那就沒轍了。活動員已置身於短時間和歷久的傷害中，短時間的包含各類不測帶來的損害，而歷久危害是各類康健題目，好比在拳擊和美式橄欖球活動中活動員的頭部重復受傷，這會增長老年癡呆的危害。
More complex is the second argument: that doping perverts the noble spectacle of humans competing on a level field — that it is not fair play. But opportunities are already unbalanced. Wealthy participants can access the full panoply of sports science, such as special diets and training that are not available to all. High altitude training (expensive but legitimate), for example, can give similar benefits to blood doping (illegal) for endurance athletes.
第二個來由比擬龐雜，用高興劑做弊玷辱了人類公正比賽的崇高排場;這類行動象征著不公正比賽。但機遇的天平已失衡了。充裕的參賽者可以得到體育科技的全套設備，好比專門的飲食和練習，這不是全部人都能獲得的。再好比高海拔練習(用度很高，但正當)可認為耐力項目活動員帶來與血液高興劑(不法)類似的利益。
Science will provide new opportunities for enhancement, from genetic engineering to bionic implants. Many biological molecules have barely been exploited in sport; for instance footballers could be given oxytocin, the “bonding hormone”, to intensify the co-operative spirit that teams need to win.
從基因工程到仿生植入物，科技將為進步成就帶來更多新機遇。很多生物份子險些尚未開辟過活動用處，比方可以給足球活動員催產素——“密切荷爾蒙”，增強球隊得勝所須要的互助精力。
Without suggesting a pharmaceutical free-for-all, we can surely take a more relaxed approach to doping. Let us enjoy the coming year of sport and its Olympic climax without being distracted by moral outrage about cheating. I look forward to thrilling contests between the best natural athletes, enhanced by training — and science.
在不發起完整開放犯禁藥物的條件下，咱們確定可以用更輕松的心態來看待高興劑。請讓咱們享受來年的體育賽事，包含奧運會的熱潮，而不為做弊所激發的品德惱怒而分心。我等待看到那些最優良的活動員睜開觸目驚心的比賽，而他們成就的進步來自於練習——和科技。
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