Patterns in the situated activity of substance use in the careers of elite doping athletes

• We analyze how 12 doping athletes had used substances during their sporting life course.
• We identify six types of activity with the use of licite and doping substances.
• A high degree of tension in activity is favorable to doping.
• Doping is a possibility for re-organizing unviable sporting activity.

ObjectivesThis article presents a psychological approach to substance use in sport using a dynamic and situated activity framework. The aim was to analyze the various relationships between activity and the consumption of substances during the sporting life course of athletes who recognized doping violation.DesignData were collected from secondary sources and biographical and self-confrontational interviews to build traces of the past activity.MethodTwelve doping athletes or those admitting to having used banned substances volunteered to participate. The data were coded and compared to identify typical activities and their intrinsic dynamics.ResultsSix activities were identified: “Agree to use,” “Drop out of a non-viable state,” Return to a former state,” “Prevent a potential deficiency,” “Maintain an acquired state,” and “Balance the sporting life with substance use,” comprising 11 patterns.ConclusionsThe athletes' activity embedded substance use in reciprocal relationships that consisted of freezing, exploring and exploiting fields of possible actions created and offered by the situation dynamics. Recommendations for situated and dynamic prevention are provided.