Transcript Doping for Gold – Drugs and East German sport

Doping for Gold – Drugs and East
German sport
State Plan 14.25
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
VvKQ2kVBwTU
East/West Differences
• The abject economic failure of the Communist countries during the
Cold War was a great disappointment to the Soviets and East
European Communists.
• Marxist doctrine predicted that Socialism would be the wave of the
future and create worker paradises.
• Economic failure was thus very difficult to explain.
• Ironically East Germany was the most economically successful of all
the Soviet satellite states. The problem for the East Germans was
that their successes paled in comparison to the West German
economic miracle.
• And despite the Wall and attempts to keep out publications and
broadcasts, the East Germans could receive West German TV and
radio broadcasts knew about the differences.
• The East Germans thus sought to score public relations victories.
The most notable effort was in sports.
Sports as a Propaganda of Success
• The communist government in the DDR
(Deutsche Demokratische Republik) saw the
sporting prowess of its citizens as a powerful
propaganda tool and they were determined to
achieve success by any means.
• Anabolic steroids produced at the state run
pharmaceutical company .
• VEB Jenapharm were given to athletes without
their knowledge. This systematic doping coupled
with very intensive training regimes produced
spectacular results.
• It was intended that competitors would cease
using the steroids weeks before an event but the
pay of coaches was determined by the success of
their athletes so the temptation to continue the
drug use was often too great.
• Rather than abandon the program, the athletics
authorities in the DDR simply introduced prescreening tests ahead of competitions – those
who failed these tests did not compete.
State Plan 14.25
• A secret program (B14-25) was conducted by East Germany’s sports
federation, headed by Manfred Ewald.
• The program was monitored and the security maintained by the
Ministry of State Security (Stasi).
• It was not as one might expect from a Communist country, an
effort to bring the joy of sports to all children.
• Rather it was an effort to identify gifted children and to prepare
them in elite schools, including boarding schools where they would
not have to deal with parental interference.
• And then the East German authorities took it on step further--the
administration of drugs including steroids to young athletics, many
children just entering into puberty.
• Some were only 12-years old. This was done without the
knowledge of the children (who thought they were receiving
vitamins) or their parents
• Any one who objected or asked questions was
disciplined or kicked out of the program. A
state pharmaceutical company developed the
drugs and scientists and coaches developed
the training protocols and drug dosages to
achieve maximum results. The Stasi required
the scientists, doctors, and coaches working in
the program to sign confidentiality
agreements.
• Most of the children affected were girls because
they competed at a younger age and the drugs
had a greater enhancement impact on girls than
boys.
• Over 10,000 East German athletes over the years
were subjected to the drugs. East Germany was
not the only Communist country to engage in
doping, but they had the largest and most
sophisticated program.
• Individual athletes in the West took drugs but not
on the scale of the plan 14. 25
Pseudo Science
• The East Germans not only administered drugs as
a matter of state policy, but they also had a
sophisticated research program enabling them to
elude the drug tests administered in international
competitions.
• The results were spectacular.
• Easter German athletes beginning at the
Montreal Olympics (1976) amazed the world.
• Tiny East Germany ranked second in gold medals
behind the Soviet Union.
Outcomes
• Their success was especially notable with their young girl
swimmers.
• Since the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989), some details on the
East German program have become public.
• And many former athletes have reported serious health
problems, especially the younger girls who received the
drugs.
• This is an issue which the German Government today has
little desire to pursue. The Government has financially
compensated a handful of the athletes involved through
Germany's Olympic Committee.
• After the Berlin Wall fell, some East German sports doctors
moved to China whose athletes have
Results
• At the 1976 summer Olympics in Montreal East
Germany won a total of 90 medals, including 40
golds, remarkable for such a small nation.
• The medal haul of the women’s swim team was
particularly outstanding, winning 11 of 13 events.
• State Plan 14.25 suffered a set back at the 1977
European Cup meeting in Helsinki when shot
putter Ilona Slupianek failed a drug test.
Impact on Women
• Young women as you would expect showed the
greatest improvements as a result of steroids and
testosterone supplements but also suffered the
most worrying changes to their bodies.
• The athletes involved in the doping program were
closely monitored and doctors became aware of
serious side affects – as well as the obvious
lowering of the voice and abnormal hair growth,
risks of heart and liver disease were greatly
increased.
Documentary : Doping for Gold
• These risks were ignored and athletes whose
bodies broke down were simply discarded.
• Doping For Gold features athletes who were
doped without their knowledge including
volleyball player, Katharina Bullin and
swimmers, Ute Krause and Rica Reinisch and is
a fascinating albeit disturbing documentary.