Joshua Orozco
Ms. Butz
English III
4 November 2007
Editorial Analysis
	In her editorial, Kate Schmidt, a former world record holder, states her perspective on the use of steroids in sports and why it should be legalized. As an Olympic athlete representing the United States in 1972, 1976, and 1980, she has been exposed to the use of steroids within her competition and states she has never used performance enhancing drugs. With experience about steroids throughout her life and the effects she has discovered on many athletes, she explicates her motives why such “enhancements” should be legitimate and accepted in society.
	As her starting statement, Kate Schmidt enounces the effects from the public, saying it has “savaged American athletes for using steroids.” She then goes on to explain a current event that occurred a few weeks ago when the editorial was written, when Marion Jones “tearfully returned her three gold and two bronze medals to the U.S. Olympic Committee after admitting that she used steroids to enhance her performance.” In the next paragraph, Schmidt says that people “have created such high expectations for athletes that success seems to require steroid use for any sport requiring speed, power or a combination of the two.” She passes her idea that it is the public at fault for the many athletes that are caught using performance enhancing drugs, such as Marion Jones. However, the next paragraph states, “[this] was not always the case,” to show the growth of steroid use through her experience as an Olympic athlete for almost a decade. “When I was competing, some athletes used performance-enhancing drugs, but most didn't.” In the proceeding sentence, she safeguards herself by stating that she has not used steroids, and that she still broke a new world record without such things. Then, she says that soon enough, her “world record was surpassed by an East German who participated in a program famous for pharmacological enhancements.” Schmidt attempts to depict the idea of high competitiveness for the Olympic gold. In the next section, she reveals that the urge for an athlete to triumph over others is hard to resist. She then states that “[our] culture has elevated elite athletes to a status that is good for neither them nor us. It is unhealthy and unreal,” to show the transformation our society has put upon athletic events in the past three decades.
	In the continuing paragraph, she declares that “elite athletes are normal in every way except for being born with a singular skill with which they become obsessed, chasing its allure until age and injury stop them.” She also adds on that their “natural obsession is exacerbated by $20-million singing homes, gold-medal tallies and fan and media insistence that [they] are special in every other way,” showing the other attractions of becoming a top athlete other than focusing more on their love for the sport. Schmidt also includes that “[athletes] are not gods” and that “[we] must take them off the pedestal.” Through this, she shows her thought that athletes are not omnipotent or have supernatural powers and abilities. While many associations and governing bodies consider that steroid use can be halted, she states that “Athletes always will be a step ahead of the testing labs in concealing substances because of the multibillion-dollar industries that have been built on their sweat and their obsession.” Through the help of others, athletes can propel themselves to perform better with new exercises, routines, and especially drugs. She also goes on to state that “[athletes] have used performance enhancements and supplements for centuries. We cannot change the nature of the beast.” Although law may be imposed against these performance enhancing drugs, no regulation can overcome the nature humans have to strive for victory and to receive what they truly desire.