Worth an estimated €350 – €450 billion, sports is the undisputed king of entertainment, an ever expanding business untouched by economic crisis. But as the revenue generated increases, so too does the price demanded of high-level athletes. More and more events, matches and competitions to keep the public and their sponsors satisfied, fill the coffers of club owners, and boost profits for television networks.
Eager for achievements, records and rankings, the sports industry has become a well-oiled grinding machine. Countless champions end up physically and psychologically broken by the hellish pace of the sporting calendar, which forces them to keep pushing the natural limits of the human body. With cyclists feeling obliged to dope, hockey players committing suicide and football players lost to dementia, has professional sports gone too far?
From Larry Nassar abusing girl gymnasts to the scandal at USA Swimming, many recent news stories have exposed the sexual abuse of minors in sport all over the world. They suggest an even broader phenomenon.
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It seems that not a week goes by without a new doping scandal in the world of sports. But how does the doping system really work? Who designs the programmes and who supplies the substances?
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This is the story of world ski jumping champion, Lindsey Van, and her teammates, who took on the IOC in an epic battle to get women’s ski jumping recognized as an Olympic sport.
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