Using performance-enhancing drugs is damaging the reputation of sport without actually improving performance.

That is according to a study from the University of Adelaide, which collated records from sporting records across 26 sports in both genders.

Comparisons were made between pre-1932 records (when steroids became available) and post, and it was found that the times, distances and other results did not improve as expected in the doping era.

The findings were this week posted in the Journal of Human Sport and Exercise this week.

“The effects of doping in modern sports are far and widespread, encompassing not only the athletes and sporting teams involved, but also sponsors and fans,” says Dr Aaron Hermann, lead author on the paper.

“This research looked at 26 of the most controlled and some of the most popular sports, including various track and field events like 100m sprints, hurdles, high jump, long jump and shot-put, as well as some winter sports like speed skating and ski jumping.