Doping In East Germany

Words: 1916
Pages: 8
Open Document
The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 signified the fall of communist rule in the former German Democratic Republic. East Germany though a relatively small country in regards to population was regarded as one of the strongest countries when it came to producing results in athletics predominantly at the Olympic Games. For many years during communist rule in the former republic many onlookers always speculated how a country with a population of roughly 16 million could amass such great athletic success being able to even out perform the formidable United States whilst shattering records in the process (Longman, J. 2004). Through this paper I aim to show how the East German government conducted a decades long program of administering and distributing …show more content…
In the beginning of the 1970's with the economy falling further and further behind the west, East German officials were looking for a way to show the superiority of the communist system (Durham, N. 1998). Science was called upon by the government in order to serve socialism thus creating super athletes (Durham, N. 1998). This systematic doping of athletes across most of East German sports was known as state plan 14.25. This plan began in 1974 when the sports federation headed by Manfred Ewald met with the East German sports performance committee to decide on how they could ensure gold for the communist state (Donnelly, A. 2016). State plan 14.25 was created as a state organized and funded …show more content…
The effects of anabolic steroids used showed themselves very quickly and were ever more present in younger girls. Doping in the former republic started very early there were many successful junior athletes but not many seniors. Typically, athletes started around the age of 16 and their peak comes at the age of 20-22 but in East Germany by around 18 to 20 the vast majority of athlete's bodies couldn't take it and they were both physically and mentally destroyed (Frears, L. 2012). Both boys and girls were doped but the most shocking effects were to be seen on younger girls. Young women who were just hitting puberty were being given such high levels of the male hormone known as testosterone. Pumped full of drugs these girls were able to train harder and faster than most men with up to 50 hours of training a week pounding away at their young developing bodies (Frears, L. 2012). The effects in relation to prolonged steroid use was never more evident than in the story of East German shot putter Heidi Kreiger now known as
Show More

Related Documents: Doping In East Germany

Essay about Drugs in sport

German opposition politicians have called for a report detailing the extent to which government-backed doping of West German athletes took place from the 1970s, and possibly before, to be made public after it was revealed it was being held back over privacy concerns. The 800-word document titled Doping in Germany from 1950 to Today, put together by researchers at Berlin's Humboldt University, reveals athletes were given drugs including anabolic steroids, testosterone and oestrogen over a period…

Words 558 - Pages 3

Essay about PEDs In Sport

(cited in Connor 2009 p.339) `the drug-using athlete is normally part of a network of relationships with others, who may include team members, coaches, doctors, masseurs, trainers, managers or promoters, who are involved in supplying or administering doping substances, or in concealing their use’. Deviance Looking at the social impact on individual players who have been found using PEDs can be detrimental, as ess on other focusing more on rtain ways focusing more an one side of the picture and less…

Words 1843 - Pages 8

Gp Essay Mainpoints

GP NOTES 2010 (ESSAY) Content Page 1. Media a. New vs. Traditional b. New: narcissistic? c. Government Censorship d. Profit-driven Media e. Advertising f. Private life of public figures g. Celebrity as a role model h. Blame media for our problems i. Power + Responsibility of Media j. Media ethics k. New Media and Democracy 2. Science/Tech a. Science and Ethics b. Government and scientist role in science c. Rely too much on technology? d. Nuclear technology…

Words 24667 - Pages 99