The competing demands of sport and health: an essay on the history of ethics in sports medicine.

The history of ethics in sports medicine has been driven by the tension between the demands of sport and the demands of health.Historically, physicians have held that the demands of health place ethical limits upon the demands of sport. As external observers of the sports community, premodern sports physicians relentlessly criticized athletes and trainers who pursued victory even at the cost of the athlete's health. As integral members of the sports community,though, modern sports physicians have themselves sometimes placed the demands of sport ahead of the demands of health.