Anabolic Steroids Since ancient history, many athletes have resorted to performance enhancing aids to give them an edge on their opponents. Greek Olympians used strychnine and hallucinogenic mushrooms to psych up for an event. "In 1886 a French cyclist was the first athlete to die from using a performance enhancer, called speedballs, a mixture of cocaine and heroin. In the 1920's, physicians inserted slices of monkey testicles into male athletes to help boost vitality. In the 1930's Aldof Hitler allegedly administered the hormone testosterone to himself and his troops to increase aggressiveness" (Schrof, 5