Hypocrisy

I hate the idea that so many were forced to cheat or give up their career.

After the euphoria of this summer, I would suddenly find myself despising any of Team GB that was shown to have cheated. I despise footballers that dive, and the environment that doesn't punish them properly. I despise the whole 'driven by money' thing that is (was?) at the root of the cheating in pro cycling.

All that aside, I'm getting older. I don't like the way my body isn't as good as it was. If there were drugs that would safely reverse the effects of ageing, I'd probably take them.

However, although I'm not planning to compete, I can tell that the satisfaction of working towards and completing
a long sportive - a 100 miler, perhaps - would be less if I knew that I'd tampered chemically with my body.

Or would I? People dye their hair, have their teeth whitened, have a bit of 'work done' at the drop of a hat these days - if they can afford it. Anti-ageing drugs won't be so different perhaps, once we're used to them.

Hypocrisy? Possibly. But in the next 50 years, maybe less, people will have to tackle these issues. I haven't begun to figure out how to reconcile my loathing of cheating with my desire to be physically fit for longer.