(ATR) Olympic Gold medalist Shirley Babashoff joins ATRadio to talk about the current state of doping in the Olympic Movement and her own battles against dopers at the Montreal 1976 Games.
"I think it’s a shame," she tells Around the Rings Editor Ed Hula. "People are so interested in winning in a sport they will go ahead and destroy their bodies; it doesn’t make much sense to me."
Babashoff won four silver medals at the Montreal Games due to drastically improved performances by the East German swim team, later revealed to have been fueled by a state-sponsored doping program. It closely resembled the doping program recently uncovered in Russia with the help of the World Anti-Doping Agency and independent investigators.
"It’s not a sport to see how many drugs you can take to beat everyone and make yourself into a machine and perhaps destroy your children’s future."
Babashoff describes her Olympic experiences and opposition to doping in her recently released book titled Making Waves.
Listen to the full interview with Babashoff below:
Written by Kevin Nutley
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