Quote:
Originally Posted by ila
I saw a documentary not too long ago about the doping that used to happen to the East German women. A lot of the women who were given drugs were interviewed. The doping on them started when they were still in their early teens and were injected by their coaches, doctors, etc. They were told not to worry because everything was okay. As it turned out everything was not okay and these women are still paying the price in health problems to this very day.
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The East Germans were a crafty bunch. Stasi files give details of all the athletes doped and all those that failed the secret doping tests that were performed inside East Germany. Any athlete testing positive was refused permission to travel to overseas competition, and all failed results were hidden from the IAAF and the IOC.
Because of this only one East German athlete failed a doping test in competition,
Ilona Slupianek, a shot putter from the Berlin Dynamo Club, was stripped of her gold medal after testing positive for steroids at the European Cup in 1977.
Heidi Krieger:
Heidi was an East German shot putter who was invited to the prestigious Dynamo Sports Club and Boarding School in East Berlin at age thirteen in 1979. Soon after arriving the coaches started giving her bright blue pills that they told her and her parents were vitamins.
Almost immediately, her body began to change, her muscles expanded and her face, nose and hands started to enlarge. Her mood also went haywire (depression, aggression, etc.), hair sprouted across her stomach and face, her voice became deeper and her libido swung violently.
Coaches again said they were a side effects of the extra training and would be short-lived. Anyone who voiced doubts or concerns was told that they would be punished if they persisted with questioning the wisdom of their coaches.
The daily dose of pills was gradually increased and 'glucose' injections were given.
At age 20 in 1986 she won gold at the European Championships, but she was unable to cope with crippling mood swings and chronic pain. She retired in 1990.
In 1997 Heidi underwent Sex Reassignment Surgery and changed her name to Andreas.
Although Andreas Krieger's unease over his sexual identity pre-dated the doping programme, he says that the androgenic abuse left him with little choice but to have a sex-change operation. "I had no sympathy with my body, it had changed beyond all recognition," he says. "It was as though they had killed Heidi. Becoming Andreas was the next logical step."
He then hoped for justice against those who had wreaked havoc with his life. In May 2002, H?ppner and Ewald, the masterminds of the doping programme, were brought before a court in Berlin to face charges of actual bodily harm. More than 140 athletes testified. H?ppner and Ewald were found guilty but only received sentences of 22 months (suspended) and 18 months probation. Krieger was happy with the verdict, but not the lenient sentences.
At the hearing Andreas met Ute Krause (a talented female swimmer) who also testified. They have since married and they help each other cope with the depression, etc. that resulted from their doping during the 1980s.
Other East German athletes whose lives were wrecked by doping
George Sievers: Collapsed and died, aged 16, at poolside in 1973 while training. His parents were not given access to the autopsy report. Documents uncovered after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 revealed that his death was probably caused by a ruptured heart from steroid overloads.
Catherine Menschner: Had to retire early from swimming because of complications from steroid injections. She suffered permanent damage to her spine and reproductive organs.
Birgit Heukrodt: A swimming champion who was diagnosed with a liver tumour in 1993. She became a renowned surgeon.
Christiane Knacke-Sommer: The swimmer, testifying at the trial of sports doctors and coaches in 2000, pointed at the defendants, shouting: ?They destroyed my body and my mind. They even poisoned my medal.? She then threw the bronze medal she had won in the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow to the floor.
Rica Reinisch: Won three swimming gold medals at the Moscow Olympics in 1980, quit the sport in 1982 and was diagnosed with ovarian cysts because of high levels of testosterone in her system. She suffered several miscarriages.
* Excerpts pinched from a Times Online article based on an interview by Matthew Syed (journalist, commentator and two-time GB Olympic competitor).
03-02-2010
). With this win they bumped Calgary out of 8th and took their place.
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