About this item

Doping is a practice as old as sport. From baseball to track and field, cycling to horse racing, doping to win has been a part of sports for over 150 years. Today, the athletes caught using performance enhancing drugs are villainized as cheaters and morally flawed people whose presence in sports is an affront to the athletes who don't take short cuts. But this tidy worldview cheats sports fans. Doping in sport is certainly an individual decision, but to blame only the athletes ignores decades of historical context and the cultural ecosystem in which teams, coaches, athletes, sports federations, and even spectators play a role. The truth is messy -- and more shocking. In Spitting in the Soup, sports journalist Mark Johnson explores the dirty game of doping, its underground methods, the deals made behind closed doors, and the insidious cycle that keeps drugs in sports.



About the Author

Mark Johnson

Mark Johnson is a sportswriter and sports photographer. He has covered cycling and endurance sports since the 1980s. His work often focuses on the business of pro cycling - a topic that frequently intersects with the sport's long history of doping. Along with U.S. publications like VeloNews, his work is published in Cycling Weekly in the UK, Velo in France, Ride Cycling Review in Australia as well as general-interest publications including the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal.

VeloPress published Johnson's book, Argyle Armada: Behind the Scenes of the Pro Cycling Life, a documentary in words and photos of a year with the Garmin-Cervélo professional cycling team. Mark has bicycled across the United States twice and completed an Ironman triathlon. A graduate of the University of California, San Diego, the author also has an MA and PhD in English Literature from Boston University. Learn more at ironstring.com



Read Next Recommendation

Report incorrect product information.