East and West Germany: The Drug-Fueled Cold War for Medals

A report commissioned by the German Ministry of Sport and drawn up by researchers from the Humboldt University in Berlin and the University of Münster, entitled Leaks from Doping in Germany from 1950 to Today, has appeared in several German newspapers.

The report was largely redacted for legal and privacy reasons, but was clear enough in stating that doping was widespread on both sides of the Cold War and had continued after reunification.

The revelations about West German doping came as a bombshell and went viral around the world.

The report alleged that West Germany’s surprise comeback against Hungary in the 1954 World Cup final – a match often referred to as ‘The Miracle of Bern’ – was caused by pervitin, an energy-enhancing methamphetamine.

In the 1950s, extensive research was carried out in Freiburg into the doping properties of the substance.

Questions were also asked about West Germany’s 1966 World Cup, where they reached the final but lost 4-2 to England.

The report revealed that FIFA official Mihailo Andrejevic wrote to German Athletics Federation president Max Danz in a letter saying that “mild traces” of ephedrine, a central nervous system stimulant, had been found in three players on the German national team.

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

At the time of the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games, in Munich and Montreal respectively, organized doping was common among elite West German athletes, the report said.

While most German sports associations agreed to participate and share documentation, it was notable that the German Sports Federation refused to hand over the minutes of the presidential meetings, while “a former president of the association did not want to grant access to doping-related documents in his possession”.

The report also found that the German Football Association only granted access to investigators under ultimately unacceptable circumstances, while security services refused access to possible doping-related documents from both West and East Germany.

More than ten years later, despite the redactions, the original report is only available as a physical copy at the request of the German government.

The Federal Institute for Sport Science (BISp) said the 804-page initial report “did not meet the requirements of good scientific work in form and content” and requested its revision.

A later version of 43 pages was made more public., external

The University of Freiburg told BBC Sport that it was “committed to the consistent, unconditional and transparent clarification of the past surrounding sports medicine in Freiburg”. The university called the dismissal of Paoli and her research team and their failure to produce a final report “deeply regrettable”.

The university has made a number of the team’s preliminary works available online., external

Germany announced in July, external that it plans to bid to host the 2040 Olympic and Paralympic Games. If successful, the event would mark 50 years since reunification.

But like the future, the country’s past is controversial.

The Cold War had its victors, and victors often have the freedom to shape history and storylines as they see fit. Yet West Germany’s secrets have, at least in part, emerged to change the script.

East Germany doped its athletes on a horrifyingly industrial scale. Thousands of people used it without their consent to gain the upper hand in the sports world. In the West, however, the situation was much less opaque.

The people of West Germany were given a freedom that East Germans could never have imagined, but it is becoming increasingly clear that many chose exactly the same methods as the enemy.

For some, in the Cold War medal race, anything went to gain an advantage.