Steve Holcomb may not become the household name that he probably deserves to be. The gold medalist didn’t lead the four-man bobsledding team to victory until the final weekend of the Olympics, when all of America was enraptured with our gold medal run in men’s undergoing eye surgery that, as reported by NBC, was not approved by the FDA. But nobody has a problem with this. In fact, Holcomb was lauded as a national hero for piloting an American sled to its first gold medal since 1948. And that’s the way it should be.
But consider this: Holcomb received medical enhancement that significantly altered his ability to perform in his sport. Where’s the distinction between that someone who “cheats the sport” by ingesting chemicals? Is this more Tommy John than Ben Johnson? Why even draw a line at all? Just because Holcomb’s advantage doesn’t show up in his pee doesn’t mean that it doesn’t raise his game. What do you think?
ASYLUM POLL: Should Steve Holcomb’s eye surgery be considered ‘performance enhancing?’


This no-namer and Joe Paterno are clearly trying to skate the rules here. WON’T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!
I think seeing where you are driving a sled at 90 miles an hour is a given.
“What do you think?”
That was probably rhetorical, but what the hell, it’s a slow day at work. I don’t think that they gave him super human eye surgery so that he could see around corners which would be cheating. They simply made it so that he could see as well as a normal person. Also, where can I get my eyes fixed to see around corners, I made that up but it sounds pretty cool.
Maybe they should have left his eyes alone and made him drive a sled in the special olympics. Win – win.
Also, Holcomb said that when he first got back into a sled after the surgery, he was actually a WORSE driver. This was because he started driving more by eye than by feel. So, now, he scratches and smudges his helmet visor to reduce his visibility…for what that’s worth.
His surgery gave him the ability to see. It wasn’t like he’sa boxer and they gave him a third arm (Although that would be fucking AWESOME !) They put a contact lense permanently in his eye. It wasn’t a bionic eye. This doesn’t even warrant a debate…..beef jerky time….
I always drew the line for cheating at “does the athlete have to sacrifice long term health for this short improvement in performance?” I think those types of faustian bargains shouldn’t be forced upon athletes to succeed.
But “the procedure is making him normal, not superhuman” line is persuasive as well.
He had a degenerative eye disease, and they fixed it.
If that qualifies as “performance-enhancing” then any athlete who has ever been sick or gotten a flu-shot needs to be removed from competition.
Actually, he said his newly enhanced vision screwed with his sledding. He was so used to feeling the track, that now seeing screwed with his senses. He purposely scratches up the front of his visor to dim his vision so he can go back to his old way.
Other non FDA approved things to conbsider: Lifting weights is performance enhancing – we shouldd BAN that. Practice too – thats OUT.
What about when Mark Mcgwire did this same thing like ten years ago. He was one of the first big time athletes to get LASIK surgery. He had notoriously awful eyesight and had to wear a different sort of contacts because his vision was so bad. When LASIK came around he had them push his vision to 20-10. How is that not cheating?
I make hypothetical arguments about “what is a performance enhancing drug?” all the time. Is saline a drug? Does it enhance performance? etc, etc. I’m with Ruben that I think the threshold should be possible negative effect. But getting surgery to give you an advantage seems to be a slippery slope.
I have kerataconous, the same eye disease Holcomb has. It is a terrible disease that makes everything blurry and only gets worse. I had to have corneal transplants to fix mine. Now I see 20/20 with contacts. It is definitely NOT performance enhancing. If it was we should ban everyone who has ever had surgery to remove tonsils, or had a cancerous mole removed. That enhanced their performance as well.
“He had a degenerative eye disease, and they fixed it.
If that qualifies as “performance-enhancing” then any athlete who has ever been sick or gotten a flu-shot needs to be removed from competition.”
Actually, Lubomir Visnovsky was reprimanded but not disciplined during the Olympics because he had the flu, and took Advil Cold and Sinus for it.