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 alleged¹ 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 Athletics³ Federations⁴, which some experts claim are evidence of widespread doping.

明年这个时候，2016年奥运会就将在里约热内卢全面展开了。无论这届奥运会将带来何种惊喜，头条新闻里肯定少不了一个问题：兴奋剂。就连今年夏天，有关运动员涉嫌服用兴奋剂作弊的新闻也不绝于耳。最新的轰动是围绕国际田径联合会(IAAF)数据库泄露的数百份血检结果，一些专家表示这是普遍使用兴奋剂的证据。

Underlying⁵ the whole debate is a misplaced sense of moral outrage⁶ — a feeling that sport is intrinsically a clean contest between unenhanced athletes, being corrupted⁷ by evil drug pushers. The reality is that ever since people began competing for athletic² 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 elite⁸ sports, together with the increasing opportunities to boost performance offered by science, has added to the pressure but not brought fundamental change.

整个辩论背后是一种错位的道德愤怒感，以为运动的精髓是一群没有服用过兴奋剂的运动员之间进行的干净较量，只是被邪恶的兴奋剂药贩子搞坏了风气。现实是，自从人类开始为了体育荣誉和荣耀而展开竞赛以来，人类就一直愿意以一切手段尽可能地提高自己的速度、力量和准确度。近年来，竞技体育集中了越来越多的资金和媒体关注，再加上科技进步增加了提高成绩的机会，这带来了更大压力，但并未带来根本性改变。

Once we acknowledge that enhancing human capabilities⁹ 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 racing¹⁰ cars to racehorses, bicycles to tennis rackets. This is far from straightforward¹¹. 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.

只要我们承认提高人类能力是竞技比赛的一个组成部分，那么各项运动的官方机构就必须制定好规则，并决定如何执行。首先，他们必须规范运动员所使用的外部器材，比如赛车、赛马、自行车、网球拍等。这绝不是件直截了当的事。通常情况下，这么做的目的是公平安排新技术的引入，让选手无法突然获得技术上明显领先的装备，破坏竞赛平衡。

Every sport needs equipment. Athletes and swimmers do not perform naked; what they wear affects performance. High-tech¹² swimsuits to streamline¹³ 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 implants¹⁴.

各项运动都少不了装备。田径运动员和游泳运动员不会裸体比赛，而他们身上的穿着会影响成绩。让身体呈流线型的高科技泳衣尤其引起争议。人们还讨论是否应允许双腿截肢的南非运动员奥斯卡皮斯托瑞斯(Oscar Pistorius)与那些身体健全的运动员同场竞技，因为碳纤维假肢可能给了他不公平的优势，这或许预演了未来关于仿生植入物的争执。

On the whole, however, regulating equipment is easier than controlling what competitors do to improve their own bodies through pharmaceutical¹⁵ intervention¹⁶. 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 naive¹⁷ athletes should be protected from exploitation by coaches who push them to take drugs they know little about.

不过总体上来说，规范装备还是要比控制选手们通过药物干预提高体能要容易得多。在防止运动员通过兴奋剂提高成绩的问题上，人们给出了两个主要理由。一是阻止运动员伤害自身。这种说法仅对下列情况成立：应当保护那些年轻或幼稚的运动员免遭教练利用，教练可能迫使他们服用一些奇奇怪怪的药物，

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.

如果选手是明知故犯，那就没辙了。运动员已经置身于短期和长期的危险中，短期的包括各种意外带来的伤害，而长期风险是各种健康问题，比如在拳击和美式橄榄球运动中运动员的头部反复受伤，这会增加老年痴呆的风险。

More complex is the second argument: that doping perverts¹⁸ 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 panoply¹⁹ 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.

第二个理由比较复杂，用兴奋剂作弊玷污了人类公平竞赛的高尚场面；这种行为意味着不公平竞赛。但机会的天平已经失衡了。富裕的参赛者可以获得体育科技的全套装备，比如专门的饮食和训练，这不是所有人都能得到的。再比如高海拔训练（费用很高，但合法）可以为耐力项目运动员带来与血液兴奋剂（非法）相似的好处。

Science will provide new opportunities for enhancement, from genetic²⁰ engineering to bionic implants. Many biological molecules²¹ have barely been exploited in sport; for instance footballers could be given oxytocin, the “bonding hormone²²”, to intensify²³ the co-operative spirit that teams need to win.

从基因工程到仿生植入物，科技将为提高成绩带来更多新机会。许多生物分子几乎还没有开发过运动用途，例如可以给足球运动员催产素——“亲密荷尔蒙”，加强球队获胜所需要的合作精神。

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 climax²⁴ without being distracted by moral outrage about cheating. I look forward to thrilling contests between the best natural athletes, enhanced by training — and science.

在不提议完全开放违禁药物的前提下，我们肯定可以用更轻松的心态来对待兴奋剂。请让我们享受来年的体育赛事，包括奥运会的高潮，而不为作弊所引发的道德愤怒而分心。我期待看到那些最优秀的运动员展开惊心动魄的竞赛，而他们成绩的提高来自于训练——和科技。