steroids germany

Systematic state doping Jean-Pierre de Mondenard, an expert on performance-enhancing drugs, argued that doping existed in other countries, both communist and capitalist, but the difference with East Germany was that it was a state policy. Since 1974, Manfred Ewald, the head of the GDR Sports Federation, has introduced general doping, developing a “highly centralized and secret program” called the State Research Plan 14.25, and establishing a working group “uM” – “uM”. “being short for unterstützende Mittel” or “supportive drugs” – in 1974, which controlled the distribution of drugs for all sports. Dr. Manfred Heppner, a recognized sports doctor in East Germany, was responsible for the doping system. He was appointed head of the “UM Group”, which was responsible for the delivery of medicines in the federation. Each federation had its own UM group, as the variety and dose vary depending on the discipline. The ubiquity of the work of the uM working group and the element of secrecy that guided it in society, as well as the degree of ill-treatment that athletes were subjected to because of this, were noted by both scientists and athletes. The state research program was described as ” an underground activity that required the cooperation of sports doctors, talented scientists and coaches under the close attention of the GDR government.” The involvement of the GDR Ministry of State Security (Stasi) in this doping program has also been well documented and highlights the extent to which the state has gone to ensure the secrecy of the doping program. Indeed, athletes were often sworn to secrecy, not informed or misled about the medications they were taking; instead, they were told they were being given ” vitamins.” For example, Birgit Bose was only twelve years old when she became a participant in the doping program. The coach advised her not to tell anyone about vitamins, not even her parents. Ewald is quoted as saying to the coaches, ” They are still so young and they don’t need to know everything.” Olympic success The results of the athletes from East Germany proved to be a huge success at the time: “Only in 1964 in Tokyo did the participants from East Germany win more medals than their counterparts from the Western teams.” Four years later, at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, where both German teams had a separate team but still shared a flag and anthem, the GDR surpassed West Germany’s ( FRG) medal count. At these Olympic Games, the GDR, a country of 17 million people, collected nine gold medals. This was repeated in “enemy territory” at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich ; subsequently, the GDR never fell below third place in the unofficial ranking. In Munich, there were only 20 of them, and in 1976 it doubled again to 40. At the 1976 Olympic Games, East German athletes took second place in the number of medals. Four years later, the performance was repeated. The total number of medals of participants of the Winter and Summer Olympic Games from the GDR from 1956 to 1988 was 203 gold, 192 silver and 177 bronze. Although doping has helped to achieve state victories and propel a relatively small nation onto the world stage, many problems remain. All the victories of the East German athletes are overshadowed by the widespread use of drugs. Impact on athletes While the results of doping were impressive for East Germany in sports competitions, they were often devastating for the athletes involved: “Although the figures cannot be accurate, the state doping program may have affected up to 10,000 athletes. at the center of the program, but also the abuse of athletes ‘ health. Female athletes, including teenagers, have experienced virilization symptoms, and possibly up to 1,000 athletes and women have suffered serious and lasting physical and psychological damage.” One of them is former swimmer Rika Reinisch , a three-time Olympic champion and world record holder at the 1980 Moscow Games, who has since suffered numerous miscarriages and recurrent ovarian cysts . Often, doping was used without the knowledge of athletes, some of whom were only ten years old. However, there is a heated debate. Established figures such as Werner Franke argue that doping can be qualified as the choice of athletes. In some cases, the extent to which these drugs were responsible for the side effects is questionable; some athletes may have pre-existing or inherited diseases. However, numerous potential side effects from steroid use are known, including ” increased risk of cardiovascular disease, liver problems, sudden mood swings, strong masculinizing effects in women, and a clear link to some forms of cancer.” The health consequences of taking performance-enhancing drugs were known as early as 1963, when a coach from Leipzig, Joanna Sperling, sent a letter to her athletes saying that Doping in East Germany