Editorial: Athlete vulnerabilities and doping

This Research Topic comprises of six articles. It is not surprising that two of the articles relate to supplement use. Athlete supplement use has been regarded as a doping "gateway".Athlete's supplement consumption may increase doping risks through the development and acceptance of routine substance use to improve sporting performance (Barkoukis et al., 2015;Yager & Mclean, 2020). Furthermore, supplement use in athletes can also result in inadvertent doping due to supplement contamination or the uneducated use of supplements that contain prohibited substances. In the review by Yasuda et al. (2023) the authors summarize how the "meal first" strategy and planned supplement use are important for enhancing athletes' health and performance. The "meal first" strategy is recommended for athletes' conditioning, however there are a few instances when appropriate supplement use can be beneficial to athletes such in the case of nutrient deficiencies, inaccessibility of quality food during travel and difficulty preparing food due to societal restrictions, to mention a few (Yasudo et al., 2023). In a quantitative analysis of factors which influence supplement use and doping among adolescent athletes in New Zealand, Clancy et al. (2023) identified factors that decrease adolescent's chances of doping. To reduce the risk of doping, the researchers suggest attention should be given to increasing athlete's exposure to mastery as a confidence source, reducing focus on appearance and supporting volition/internally perceived locus of control (Clancy et al., 2023).When it comes to vulnerability to doping, vulnerability is not constant and can change during the athlete's sporting career or athlete pathway. Thus, it is also important to understand how vulnerability may change, and thus, when specific interventions may be necessary or beneficial to decrease vulnerability and potential doping violations. The results of the research by Veltmaat et al. (2023) showed that athletes believed that 'clean' and 'doping' athletes are not always distinguished by the values they hold. Therefore, all athletes can be vulnerable to doping at some point. Further strengthening the point of view that vulnerability is not constant. The researchers concluded that vulnerability is a balance between risks and protective factors in a complex interaction between environmental, personal and situational influences (Veltmaat et al., 2023).Educational interventions are another area of focus of the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA). Some research has shown that many athletes do not have sufficient knowledge regarding doping / anti-doping, which has significant consequences given the 'strict liability' rules. Lack of knowledge may then lead to possible doping violations. Murofushi et al.(2023) investigated subjective and objective anti-doping knowledge in Japanese University students and found that there was a discrepancy between subjective and objective anti-doping knowledge. Athletes perceived themselves to have adequate anti-doping knowledge however objective measures indicated otherwise. The researchers suggest targeted educational interventions to align subjective and objective anti-doping knowledge. Even if athletes recognize doping as wrongful, insufficient knowledge may inadvertently influence behavioral intentions, potentially leading to unintentional doping. The researchers also investigated the willingness to learn and objective anti-doping knowledge in the same cohort (Japanese University students) and found no relationship between willingness to learn and objective anti-doping knowledge. Although no relationship was determined in this study, the results did show that the athletes had insufficient knowledge regarding doping and that educational interventions were warranted (Murofushi et al., 2023).Lastly, an article by Pavot, 2023 further highlights the challenges and complex struggle to combat doping in sport and to ensure all athletes are able to compete within a fair environment. The article discusses the potential gap or lacuna in the World Anti-Doping

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