A performance drug that could actually increase the fairness of Olympic contests?

Carl Elliott in The Atlantic:

Beta blockers seem to be especially good performance enhancers when the performance in question involves an anxiety-producing public setting. This is because a large part of the anxiety of performing in public comes from the worry that one’s anxiety will become outwardly obvious. Most people who worry about public speaking, for example, aren't worried that they'll flub their lines, trip and fall as they approach the podium, or deliver an hour-long speech on television with their pants unzipped. They worry that their anxiety will become apparent to the audience. They're terrified that their hands will tremble, that their voices will become high-pitched and quivering, and that beads of sweat will appear on their foreheads and upper lip, like Richard Nixon trying to explain Watergate. This is why beta blockers are so useful; people who have taken a drug that blocks the outward effects of their anxiety become less anxious—not because the drug is affecting their brain, but because their worst fears are not being realized.

Beta blockers have been around since the 1960s, but it took a while before anyone noticed how useful they were for performance anxiety. Probably the first performers to start using them widely were musicians, especially classical musicians, whose hands can get clammy or tremble during a concert performance.

More here.

Comments

[Ruchira]

I recently wrote my own thoughts about cheating in sports. While I was being a bit cynical and tongue-in-cheek in my comments, I wasn't being entirely flippant.

The fallacy in the beta-blocker argument is the same one that sees nothing wrong with "other" interventions which don't directly act on an athlete's "physical" talents such as speed, strength or stamina. What's wrong after all in chemically stabilizing "just the nerves?" Wrong. "Nerves of steel" too are a physical endowment some have that gives them an edge in competitive situations. If one opposes anabolic steroids, hormones, RBC infusions on the grounds that they "enhance" certain athletic attributes, then beta blockers too should be off limits. Let those who can "naturally" overcome butterflies in the stomach, win.

[Parashooter]

What about the example of a tetraplegic shooter who has involuntary muscle spasm and the Tetraplegic that does not. The one with spasm can legally take a drug called batchlofen to control the spam so he can compete with the one that does not have spasm. This can be compared to the person who requires a Beta-blocker to control his high heart rate because of Ischemic heart disease and would also have a serious medical situation if he were not to take the drug, competing with a person that has a normal heart rhythm. However If the person taking the Beta blocker had a significantly lower heart rate that the person not on the drug then that would be an advantage, but if not then the playing field is more level.