The Olympic Games are viewed as a celebration of the athletic prowess of individuals from all walks of life across the globe. The Games are designed to feature the abilities of these individuals, who compete in a variety of events that test their strengths, and ultimately champions and medalists are chosen.

With this level of competition comes the requirement that all individuals' performances are a truly reflection of their skill. But the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, are once again shining a spotlight on an issue that has long persisted with the Olympics: the use of performance enhancing drugs to achieve an undeserved advantage over competitors.

Currently, 68 members of the Russian Olympic track team have been banned from Rio due to allegations and ultimately confirmation of doping. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is weighing whether to prevent the rest of Russia's Olympic athletes from competing as well.

Why have they been banned? An investigation by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) unveiled a state-sponsored program in which Russian athletes were given cocktails of performance-enhancing drugs and hiding dirty urine samples during the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia.

More bans may be on the way for athletes in other countries as the IOC just released a report that found an additional 45 athletes who tested positive for banned substances at the London (2012) and Beijing (2008) Olympics. The nationalities of these athletes have yet to be revealed.

As a result of these recent findings, more stringent monitoring criteria have been put into place for laboratories that are accredited by WADA as the Rio Games approach (starting Aug. 5), with a greater push to make offenders accountable for violations. According to WADA, it is the personal duty of each athlete to ensure that prohibited substances do not enter their bodies.

Substances that are prohibited at all times include anabolic agents, peptide hormones, growth factors, mimetics, hormones, metabolic modulators, diuretics and masking agents, among others. While engaged in competition, the same agents are prohibited as well as narcotics, cannabinoids, glucocorticoids and beta-2 agonists.

Any athlete who is found to be in violation can be temporarily or permanently banned from a competition, but generally this decision in made in the aftermath of a hearing.

Efforts to deter practices of doping and violations against WADA's Prohibited List can come in the form of anti-doping programs, which can employ the perceptual deterrence model in which athletes can make rational decisions and weigh the risks versus benefits of their decision. Additionally, the ability to detect and sanction those athletes who are in violation can result in other athletes deciding not to use performance-enhancing drugs.

Ultimately, monitoring for the use of performance-enhancing drugs must take on a collaborative effort, meaning athletes must be aware of the repercussions that can come from the violation, and monitoring agencies must enforce these violations as a deterrence. Similar to the current actions that are being taken against the Russians, the same should be done for future athletes who may want to consider this practice.