The correct answer is A. Athletes have always used artificial means to increase their advantage.
Explanation:
The word "counterargument" refers to an argument or claim that is against the main one, this implies if you are writing about banning performance-enhancing drugs in sports a counterargument is one that opposed this position and therefore supports the idea of allowing this type of drugs. According to this, the statement that is a counterargument and that you need to anticipate to refute in a persuasive essay is "Athletes have always used artificial means to increase their advantage" because this suggests using performance-enhancing drugs is acceptable based on history and therefore should not change which is the opposite to the main claim or argument.
