Mark Johnson, the author of Spitting in the Soup: Inside the Dirty Game of Doping in Sports, has been involved in sports, specifically cycling, since the 1980s. He is also a sports columnist and photographer. Most of his activities are related to professional cycling and endurance sports (Outside books 2021). M. Johnson devoted his book to a topic that often intersects with the long history of sports as a competition. The author deals with the issue of doping, its use, and what keeps drugs in sports. The book was released in 2016 under the editorship of VeloPress and contains 416 pages.
Test-tube medals: who wins in the fight against doping. Spitting Soup is a comprehensive analysis of social and historical factors that influence people’s attitudes towards doping in sports. Johnson mentions the emergence of a ‘tradition’ of using prohibited substances. There has always been a historical context as to why cycling is considered ‘the dirtiest’ (Harris & Maxwell, 2016). The author draws an analogy with horse racing, which was deemed to be boring without additional, extra help. Professional cycling has also used every means possible to ride as quickly as possible.
The book has a convenient structure due to its chronological narration. Mark Johnson begins his story by introducing readers to the question of doping, namely, its emergence, fading into the shadows, and further condemnation. Doping first became a crime in the 1960s, after a French cyclist nearly died from an amphetamine overdose (Johnson, 2016). Johnson says that the government viewed the fight against doping more as a disadvantage during the Cold War (Johnson, 2016). The organizers of the Olympic Games see anti-doping as a budget obstacle (Spitting in the soup 2016). Many modern readers may be mistaken in thinking that drugs in sports have always been condemned, but this is not true.
Mark Johnson devotes several chapters to analyzing the controversy in society regarding the use of various stimulant drugs. He argues that modern society is entirely dependent on pharmaceuticals, whether it’s steroids, antidepressants, or botox. Johnson (2016) says, “… the task of carving out a chemical-free cloister amid a nation whose citizens… have sent strong messages that pharmaceuticals should play an important role in the betterment of everyday life” (p. 247). At the same time, the discrepancy between clean, honest sports is condemned, both by critics and ordinary spectators.
Throughout the book, the sports journalist remains objective about the topic he brings up. The author does not claim that doping is terrible and does not reduce everything to this conclusion. Instead, the writer takes all sorts of reliable sources for analysis, such as articles from the New York Times or the official website of the Olympic Games. Thus, as a result, different sides of the ‘sports locker room’ are revealed.
As stated earlier, thanks to the narrative structure, it is easy to follow the development of doping in the world as part of the natural progress of humanity. Due to this, the reading seems intense and logical, and thanks to the author’s style, there are no difficulties with the perception of information. In addition, since the author himself is directly related to sports, he is qualified to write such a work. Because the book is comprehensive, it can be of interest to anyone who is even slightly interested in sports.
References
Harris, J., & Maxwell, S. (2016). A new approach to anti-doping. PezCycling News. Web.
Johnson, M. (2016). Spitting in the soup: Inside the dirty game of doping in sports. VeloPress.
Outside books. Outside Inc. (2021). Web.
Spitting in the soup: Inside the dirty game of doping in sports / Mark Johnson. (2016). Olympic World Library. Web.