The spirit of sport, morality, and hypoxic tents: logic and authenticity

Abstract

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has recently made a decision to allow the use of hypoxic tents amid a significant amount of controversy over the morality of their use for athletic training purposes. Currently, altitude training is considered moral, but other means of improving aerobic performance are not; for example, blood doping. Altitude training and blood doping have similar results, but the methods by which the results are achieved differ greatly. The controversy lies in how the use of a hypoxic device falls within WADA's philosophy, which will then dictate future policy. This paper discusses the influence of a hypoxic environment on human physiology, altitude training's influence on athletic performance, the concept of authentic physiology, and moral behaviour that is the foundation for logical debate.