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Lookup NU author(s): Andrew RichardsonORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
The Goldman dilemma is a controversial and hypothetical scenario that offers an athlete a reward or success in exchange for certain death within a fixed period of time. This infamous Faustian bargain has been applied periodically to a variety of sports and athletes over the past four decades. Variations of the Goldman’s dilemma were posed to a sample of 366 cyclists who race online using esport apps. The participants were asked whether they would accept the Faustian Bargain by using a drug that guaranteed either sporting success or a considerable financial reward but would ultimately result in their death in five years’ time. Eight initial variants of the Goldman dilemma questions were created but the maximum level of acceptance of them was never greater than 2.8% of the respondents. However, when the threat of certain death was then removed in two further variants of the dilemma, the inclination to take the drug to achieve the same rewards the saw participants acceptance of the dilemma rise considerably to 28%. Whilst this study continues to support the broadly held viewpoint that the Goldman dilemma is seen as a potential fallacy, it does provide further evidence of esport athletes’ hypothetical propensity to take performance enhancing drugs which should be taken seriously in light of the upcoming IOC Olympic Esports Games.
Author(s): Dyer B, Richardson A
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: International Journal of Esports
Year: 2026
Volume: 1
Issue: 1
Pages: 13
Online publication date: 01/01/2026
Acceptance date: 20/02/2025
Date deposited: 07/01/2026
ISSN (electronic): 2634-1069
Publisher: Esports
URL: https://www.ijesports.org/article/166/html
