Doping in Paralympic Sports - A Mixed Methods Approach

There has been quite some effort over the last years to understand and describe the phenomenon of doping within competitive sports. In view of the dearth of anti-doping research specific to disability sport and the fact that doping prevention in disability sport might not readily use the same approaches as those used in non-disability sport additional evidence needs to be generated. Thus, the main aims of this study are to pride a more detailed picture of doping in disability sport, to define the current state of doping knowledge, the attitudes of athletes with disabilities and their trainers, their trust into anti-doping in general, to evaluate factors predicting athletes doping willingness and to compare these findings with those from non-disability sport. Due to the lacking research in disability sport and the exploratory character of the planned project, hypotheses are difficult to define in general terms. Nevertheless, we hypothesize that athletes with disabilities will show gaps in doping knowledge and on health effects, show positive contra- doping attitudes and that predictors of doping behaviour and willingness in Paralympic sports will differ to those in non-Paralympic sports. To reach the research objectives, different methods will be applied, including both, in-depth interviews and questionnaires. In cooperation with the German and Austrian Paralympic Committee, the Sports University of Cologne, the Swiss Paraplegic-Centre and the Leeds Beckett University, the study population that will be included consists of German, Swiss, Austrian and British elite athletes with disabilities at international competition level and their trainers. The control sample of athletes without disabilities will be matched for age, gender, type of sport and performance level, and the results will be compared between the two groups. To the best of our knowledge, this research project represents the first mixed-methods investigation of doping in disability sport including four different countries. In addition, the results with respect to the potential impact of psychological and situational factors on doping willingness will constitute a first attempt to understand the doping phenomenon in disability sport; it cannot be expected a priori that the underlying processes are the same as compared to non-disability sport. Disability sport- specific intervention measures could be developed, implemented and evaluated informed by findings of this research. The results might not only be of sports-political, but also of socio-political, interest, because inclusion is a general issue worth investigating. This project is a first attempt to answer the demand for synergies between research and practical application, also in disability sport.

With the growth of the Paralympic Games, both the number of Paralympic athletes as well as the occurrence of doping incidents have increased. Yet, the phenomenon of doping is under-researched and poorly understood in Paralympic sport both, from the perspective of Paralympic athletes and parasport coaches. To address the dearth of evidence in Paralympic sport, it was the overall aim of this project to develop an understanding of Paralympic athletes' and parasport coaches' perceptions, reasons and knowledge related to doping and their opinions of the current anti-doping system in order to inform future interventions specific to Paralympic sport context. Stemming from interview data and online surveys, this research project shows for the first time that athletes and coaches perceive doping to be a well-known and a wide-spread issue in Paralympic sport. Paralympic athletes are exposed to extreme pressure, coming especially from financial incentives and pressure to win, which poses a risk for doping. Those intertwined risk factors (money and pressure to win to earn prize money and/or funding/sponsorship) can be additionally impacted (negatively) by a nation's sporting system. Indeed, athletes suggested that there are several ways to cheat due to 'loopholes' in the current anti-doping system, and coaches emphasised differences in testing and education across countries of the Global North and the Global South due to budget, resource, or infrastructure issues. Unanimously, athletes and coaches proposed cheating on classification as a form of doping, and perhaps the greatest threat to the integrity of Paralympic sport. These findings should be addressed by thinking both on an individual level (e.g., support dual careers; distribute prize money more broadly) and a structural/policy level (e.g., aim to have minimum standards to level the global inconsistent anti-doping systems including anti-doping education/testing; scrutinise the classification system more closely). To build on the findings, future studies should include more countries around the world to test the repeatability and generalisability of the presented findings. In detail, attention could be drawn both to the rate of doping tests and implemented anti-doping education for Paralympic athletes and parasport coaches. Within a broader context, it should be scientifically investigated whether a focus on athletes' health and its maintenance can have a positive effect on doping behaviour.