The Edge: The War against Cheating and Corruption in the Cutthroat World of Elite Sports

by Roger Pielke, Simon Kuper (Introduction)

Roger Pielke reveals how sports stars break the rules in their search for a competitive edge.

Both entertaining and thought-provoking, THE EDGE not only visits the battlefields in the war against cheating and corruption, but also explores ways to ensure that “the spirit of sport” can survive in today’s high-tech, highly professional world.

Drawing on controversies straight out of the headlines, Pielke looks at doping, match fixing, fake amateurism, and other ways of breaking the rules. But are those rules--and the values they reflect--hopelessly outdated?

Wonderfully readable and scrupulously researched, THE EDGE blends science and journalism to produce an unforgettable account of sport in crisis.

Genres: Sports

330 pages, Paperback

Published September 13, 2016

Reviews

[Patricia Burgess · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Edge" considers the conflict between the 'performance edge' and the 'ethical edge' in sport. Pielke provides an exhaustive, historical perspective of what sport means, e.g., what are the historical values attributed to sport (the so-called "spirit of sport"), what are the current values (certainly in flux and with many different perspectives), how do the values and the rules applied to sport work in the twenty-first century? He provides case studies of athletes, athletic associations, nations, trying to gain a competitive edge through performance enhancing mechanics and methods. Pielke goes further, though, in setting up possible dialogues that could be used to understand what sport means today, how we might move toward (although not believing we'll get 100% there) "clean sport," and how the joy of sport can be preserved in this area of distrust of the systems, the athletes, the oversight organizations, etc. He sets out what sports governance could be and what it currently isn't.
I found the book very readable and thought-provoking. He touches upon familiar scandals while also introducing age-old ways that are used to gain advantage, questioning how new mechanics (shoes, prosthetics) or methods fit within the scheme of sport, the use of science to determine whether someone is using performance-enhancing mechanics or methods, controversial sex testing, etc. I highly recommend it to students of sport, athletes, universities, spectators.

[Alpha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of a slog to get through, but some interesting thoughts around solutions to some of these problems in modern sports. Definitely some meat to chew on in regards to ultimate's "spirit of the game".

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting look at the many gray areas in sports and the different scandals of the last century. The author liked to offer solutions and ideas in each area and while I didn't agree with him in a lot of them, especially in the gender areas where he seemed to be trying to be more politically correct than fair to sports, it was a good read. A little dry.

[Tani Mintz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book would be a great resource in relevant college or graduate school classes. As a book to read for pleasure, it’s a little dry. It does offer some thought provoking perspectives regarding how to think about sport and cheating in the modern era, and for that I appreciated this book.

[Chadwick · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a distance runner and cyclist, the issue of performance enhancement in sports has long been of particular interest to me.

Roger Pielke has written an intriguing book that broadly considers the many aspects of cheating and corruption in sports. Performance-enhancing drugs are merely one of the many things he explores. He considers gender, technology, match fixing, elective surgery, and many other issues as he seeks to show us how athletes and others try to gain "the edge" in sports -- and how others try to catch (and punish) those who cheat. He asks many interesting questions. The answers aren't always easy and the ethical considerations can be complex. As he writes, "It is us who will ultimately decide what values we want sport to embrace and reflect."

The book reads more like an academic survey of current issues in the field. He doesn't delve too deeply into any single issue, briefly exploring many issues, but it's a useful and readable introduction for anyone interested in this topic.

(Thanks to Roaring Forties Press for an advance copy via a giveaway. Receiving a free copy did not affect the content of my review.)