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Doping and anti-doping in the age of Ozempic and the Apple Watch

David Singerman will present his research on the history of doping and anti-doping in sports in this seminar session.

Event, Research Seminar

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Salle du Conseil, 13 rue de l'Université, 75007 Paris

Abstract

During my stay at the médialab in the 2026-2027 academic year, I'm researching the history of doping and anti-doping in sports from the 1980s to the present. The global anti-doping system today enjoys greater technical and surveillance capabilities than it has ever possessed. At the same time, it is under greater stress than at any point since the system was organized in the 1990s. In this seminar I'll discuss the questions that animate my research and share some of my preliminary hypotheses and findings.

I'll suggest that one source of strain is the change in how we evaluate our own bodies and our performances. What does so-called "clean" sport even mean when amateurs have adopted practices of technological and biomedical enhancement and self-monitoring that were once confined to elites? Runners wear shoes with carbon-fiber springs, pace themselves with heart rate monitors, track themselves with GPS watches, and compare their statistics on Strava. Everyone knows someone who is taking GLP-1 inhibitors, and even the Secretary of Health in the United States talks about his steroid regimen.

I'll also propose that the history of the anti-doping system has itself generated some of these strains, especially the way it has responded to the difficulties of directly testing for banned substances. Anti-doping agencies have created a burdensome system of worldwide surveillance that, to many professional athletes, violates their privacy yet remains unable to reliably identify drug users. Moreover, over the past two decades, officials have repeatedly prosecuted athletes who accidentally ingested banned substances through the world's contaminated food supply system. 

In more than one way, the pursuit of anti-doping has crashed against the limits of biomedical methods and knowledge. The "Enhanced Games," a pro-doping rival to the Olympics, has taken advantage of this fatigue with the anti-doping system, creating a showcase for selling performance-enhancing drugs to mass audiences.

Biography

David Singerman is a historian of science and technology at the University of Virginia, where he is an associate professor in the departments of History and American Studies. He received his PhD from MIT's program in History, Anthropology, and STS. His book Unrefined: How Capitalism Reinvented Sugar was published by the University of Chicago Press in 2025. Unrefined was awarded the 2026 Pickstone Prize for best book from the British Society for the History of Science and the 2026 Paul Bunge Prize in the history of scientific instruments by the German Chemical Society.

Practical informations

Date: October 6th, 2026

Time: 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM

Location: salle du Conseil, 13 rue de l'Université, 75007 Paris

Language: English

Registration is mandatory via this link.