Abstract：The anti-inflammatory effects of glucocorticoids (GCs) make them the treatment of choice for asthma and painful chronic musculoskeletal injuries. However, the use of systemic GCs in sport remains a vexing issue. GCs have been prohibited in-competition since 2004 when administered by systemic (oral, rectal, intramuscular, or intravenous) routes. There are proponents who view GC treatment as perfectly acceptable for athletes if clinically indicated. Some further hold that GCs consistently make up the largest share of granted therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) and should be removed entirely from prohibited substances list of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Others believe that athletes with either chronic or acute medical conditions should not be granted TUEs, but instead should be prevented from competing owing to the health risk. The purpose of this article is to review relevant literature and examine the statistics of adverse analytical finding (AAF) from WADA to explore whether GCs can enhance performance. The results show that the prevalence of GC use decreased over 4 years from 6.3% (2013) to 4.0% (2016). The ranking of AAF cases decreased from 4th to 5th. Budesonide, prednisone, prednisolone, and betamethasone were detected with high frequency. Athletes engaging in endurance exercises were seemingly prone to use GCs as a performance-enhancing substance. GCs have no performance-enhancing effects on short systemic-uses. Owing to the various adverse effects of GCs and the risk of violating rules, we suggest that athletes and physicians should use GCs carefully for therapeutic purposes. (Full text)