Initiation

Abstract

This chapter explores the next stage of disgraced athletes’ self-narratives, which deal with their initiation into the world of sports doping, and offer an account of the crucial moments that lead them into participating in this behaviour. It is argued that a consistent feature of these accounts is the recourse to a number of techniques of neutralisation which are used to deflect the stigma arising from their labelling as dopers. In particular, the denial of injury, the denial of the victim, and the defence of necessity are used to challenge straightforward labels of ‘cheat’.