East versus West: The drug-fueled Cold War for medals

A report commissioned by the German Ministry of Sport and prepared by researchers from the Humboldt University of Berlin and the University of Münster entitled “Doping leaks in Germany from 1950 to today” appeared in various German newspapers.

Many of the details in the report had been redacted for legal and privacy reasons, but the claim that doping was widespread on both sides of the Cold War and continued after reunification was clear.

The revelations about West German doping hit like a bomb and the reactions went around the world.

The report claimed that West Germany's surprise comeback victory against Hungary in the 1954 FIFA World Cup final – a game often referred to as the “Miracle of Bern” – was triggered by the use of Pervitin, an energy-giving methamphetamine.

The drug was extensively investigated for its doping properties in Freiburg in the 1950s.

There were also questions regarding the 1966 World Cup, as West Germany reached the final but lost 4-2 to England.

According to the report, the president of the German Athletics Association, Max Danz, was informed in a letter from FIFA official Mihailo Andrejevic that “small traces” of ephedrine – a central nervous system stimulant – had been found in three players of the German national team.

No action was taken and some speculated that the players may have ingested the ephedrine in a cold medicine.

At the time of the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich and 1976 in Montreal, organized doping was widespread among top West German athletes, the report continued.

While most German sports federations agreed to participate and share documents, the report says it is notable that the German Athletics Federation refused to release the minutes of its presidential meetings and that “a former president of the federation did not want to grant access to the doping documents in his possession.”

The report also found that the German Football Association only granted investigators access under ultimately unacceptable conditions, while security authorities denied access to possible doping documents from West and East Germany.

More than a decade later, the original report, even with deletions, is only available as a physical copy upon request from the German government.

The Federal Institute of Sport Science (BISp) found that the 804-page initial report “did not meet the requirements of good scientific work in terms of form and content” and called for a revision.

A later, 43-page version was made available to the public., external

The University of Freiberg told BBC Sport that it was “committed to the consistent, unconditional and transparent clarification of the past surrounding Freiburg sports medicine” and described the resignation of Paoli and her team of investigators as well as the lack of a related final report as “very regrettable”.

The university has made some parts of the team's preliminary work available online., external

Germany announced in July, external that it intends to apply to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2040. If successful, the event would mark the 50th anniversary of reunification.

But just like the future, the country's past is also controversial.

The Cold War had its winners, and winners often have the freedom to shape history and storylines as they please. But West Germany's secrets have come to light, at least in part, and changed the script.

In the GDR, athletes were doped on a frighteningly industrial scale: thousands were drugged without the athletes' express consent in order to gain a sporting advantage. In the West, however, the situation was far less opaque.

The people of West Germany were granted freedoms that exceeded the wildest dreams of those in East Germany, but it is becoming increasingly clear that many of them chose exactly the same methods as the enemy.

For some, anything that gave them an advantage was allowed in the fight for Cold War medals.