g injured to allow combat to continue (Donohoe & Johnson 1-17).
During the 6-day Amsterdam canal races of 1865, some racing cyclists sucked on sugar cubes dipped in ether, others drank black coffee doped with extra caffeine and peppermint. As the race progressed, cocaine and strychnine were added in increasing doses. After sprint sequences, athletes were given nitroglycerine capsules to make breathing easier. Cocaine, strychnine and heroin were common at the turn of the century athletic competitions. Boxers became involved in doping after the turn of the century because of the money involved in fights. Marathoners were known to be using drugs in the 1904 and 1908 Olympic Games. Stimulant drugs have remained popular throughout the twentieth century, being used in sports and in war to keep troops aroused and delay the onset of fatigue (though air crews were kept off some drugs because it impaired judgment). Deaths due to drug overdosing were common in boxing and cycling during the 1940s and 1950s. Doping was also common during the 1952, 1956 and 1960 Olympics, when a Danish cycler died of overdose of amphetamine and nicotinyl tartrate. In the 1960 Olympics, it was estimated that from 23 to 88 percent of athletes i
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