Doping in East Germany

The German Democratic Republic (GDR), commonly known as East Germany (German: Deutsche Demokratische Republik or DDR) conducted a decades-long program of coercive administration and distribution of performance-enhancing drugs, such as testosterone and other anabolic steroids to its elite athletes for the purpose of bolstering the communist state's image and prestige by winning medals in international championships (such as the Olympics), known officially as State Plan 14.25. The drug regimens, given either with or without the knowledge of the athletes, resulted in victories in international competitions, including the Olympic Games. East Germany had been a pioneering state in doping, so much that it was considered to be the inventor of doping.

Systematic doping of athletes ended with the fall of communism in East Germany in 1989, before German reunification a year later. Many former athletes suffer from health problems related to steroid consumption.

Socialist East Germany’s use of sport is similar to use of the Italian National Football team in Fascist Italy during the reign of Benito Mussolini, or Nazi Germany’s use of the 1936 Olympics during the reign of Hitler.

Dictators and authoritarians understood sports as events that were more than just athletics to the public; sport was a “cultural institution in society and it plays an important role in many citizen’s lives”.

Not only was sport used as propaganda to achieve international prominence, it was also used on the home front, as “the political use of sport has ranged from attempting to reduce crime levels, stimulate ‘social capital’ and promote cohesion among disadvantaged groups. Benefits claimed for sport range from fighting obesity – and hence reducing the burden on the National Health Service”.

Following the end of the World War II, sport became incrasingly politicized on the world stage. International competitions, like the Olympics, various World Cups, and similar large-scale events began to be recognised as more than purely athletic enterprises, whence actual competition between the West and the East increased in other areas. Inventions in broadcasting, such as television, amplified media attention to the point of putting financial support and perceived national reputations all at stake.

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