East Germany's Secret Doping System

[@jmakiola]

One particularly interesting sport in, which in my opinion, would warrant an entire episode of its own is ski jumping. This was one of the disciplines where East Germany was extremely strong, with legendary athletes in every decade of the country's existence - from Helmut Recknagel, through Hans-Georg Aschenbach to Jens Weißflog, and an incredible story of Claus Tuchscherer, who defected to Austria, and started representing them. He suffered a terrible fall during the 1978 world Championships, where he lost one of his skis mid-flight. It was suspected that a stasi agent tampered with the bindings as a punishment for betraying the nation.

[@TheFrewah]

It is kind of interesting but would anyone benefit from doping?

[@jmakiola]

@@TheFrewah I heard stories about Hans-Georg Aschenbach allegedly using doping, not sure if that was the case. But in the old era of ski jumping there may have been some benefits, as the sport used to require much more outright physical strength, though doping surely had much less of an impact than in other disciplines

[@TheFrewah]

@@jmakiola Hmm.. That can be. I have to admit there are sports that I don’t understand very well. Ski jumping and Curling are among them.

[@hazchemel]

​@TheFrewah Among swimmers, it was openly discussed. We would lament that the East German female swimmers won many competitions unfairly and posted many records which were there only because of drugs. About your question. Yes, the doping was very "helpful" especially for women. Testosterone supplements make a woman's physique masculine in proportions and muscles. A boost for most men too, but not anywhere to the same degree as for the women.

[@joeryan82]

Turinabol is an incredible compound. Serious muscle gain, delts and traps just blow up, hip flexors too, improves endurance, no aromatization, and the pumps and muscle contractions on it are insane. Thank you, JenaPharm - you really knocked it out of the park with this one!

[@electrolytics]

Hopefully your nuts don't turn into raisins.

[@anthonyvenegas8299]

Great for athletics ,

[@joeryan82]

@@anthonyvenegas8299 No doubt it did what they designed it to do.

[@junefranklin458]

we love gender affirming care for cis men ❤️❤️

[@paulmattt]

My dad, one of the organizers of NYC Marathon in the 1980’s, tried to get some of the garbage GDR runners were leaving before the start. It was impossible- their handlers were taking everything, literally everything!

[@DaveSCameron]

I’m not sure what you’re saying, stealing, early starts, what.

[@paulmattt]

@@DaveSCameron ok, GDR runners were all staying in a closed up tent before the start of the marathon. We all knew they are getting doped, but needed proof. Proof could be in anything they would leave behind. My jod was to get it, anything, ever a scrap of paper, discarded tissue, and garbage. And they would not leave anything behind, they always took everything with them, even the smallest piece of garbage.

[@kallelaur1762]

lmao, my first thought was that your dad wanted for his own use some of that stuff they were having

[@pentu7738]

80s was peak US doping times ;P besides now ofc

[@minhthunguyendang9900]

@@paulmattt thoroughbred criminals

[@fratercontenduntocculta8161]

I would really like it if you made a video about Helmut Borufka, the former head of the NVA. His story is really interesting, as we wasn't ethnic German but Czech as his hometown was absorbed into the Sudetenland and forcibly conscripted into the Wehrmacht. There is almost nothing on him in English. I also have another idea, could you do an analysis of the Kampfgruppen der Abrbeitsklasse? Their organization fascinates me.

[@djackmanson]

What a horrific story. I don't care about the sanctity of sport, but putting these young athletes in such danger for their health is appalling. I know lots of countries have a culture of abusing children as part of sports training, but this seems particularly nasty.

[@prieten49]

Just when a little "Ostalgie" starts to creep in, we get another hard-hitting exposé, well, at least for an English audience, of some atrocity the East German authorities perpetrated against their own people. Good job!

[@me5ng3]

I still have Ostalgie despite some of these exposes. There are dark parts to every regime.

[@vselenautika]

You really think Ostalgie is a nostalgic feeling for the system?

[@prieten49]

@@vselenautika Ostalgie has no set definition. "Nostalgia for the East" can be interpreted many ways. Those who attend Ostalgie events in Germany may just revel in the symbols, music, cars, and other things that remind them of happy times in the GDR. Others who voted for the PDS before it became Die Linke and now BSW definitely have an affinity for a system that offered them ideological certainty and enough benefits if they conformed to the party line.

[@vselenautika]

@@prieten49 They are nostalgic for their youth, mate :)

[@kamz5]

Lmaooo your display pic

[@gergelygyulalazar2293]

Doping within the GDR. Many swimmers from the GDR (Kristin Otto, Cornelia Sirch, etc) were caught for using illegal substances. Cornelia Sirch was competing against the young Krisztina Egerszegi of Hungary. Everyone saw how "pumped" Cornelia was on the podium. She was taller than the winner on the top spot of the podium. Krisztina Egerszegi was nicknamed "little mouse" because she was young, short and slim. Yet... had incredible talent. She became the youngest Olympic Champion of the time, as she was only 14.

[@notjohnnyrico]

The bizarre part of it.. there was East German woman athlete who because of this doping + puberty, she turned & became physically a male!

[@minhthunguyendang9900]

So the long & the short of cheating by dope is that the doped still lost to the non-doped.

[@Parker528]

Just to be clear, your statement of them being caught is not exactly true. The system that these innocent swimmers were victims to. By the you know, state-sponsored doping system was so advanced that they knew when to take the swimmers off of the steroid before leaving the country for international competition. Meaning except for one track and field athlete at the I believe 1977 European cup, not one each German athlete ever tested positive before the wall fell down. So yes, there were there was clear evidence. Yes there it was obvious but just by saying that Cornelia was obviously doped because she was taller and bigger is incorrect of you to say that therefore they were caught. No, we we caught them thanks to two West German people crossing over with the judge's order to let them into a former army barrack to seize the doctoral feces of State plan 1425 before then we couldn't prove it so they were not caught. And that's the biggest most unfortunate thing for anybody and everybody that was swimming clean. So just to be clear, they were not caught. Except for one woman and I believe that she was a javelin thrower

[@danielsmith7023]

It always angered me when the Warsaw Pact "women" won all the medals.

[@minhthunguyendang9900]

@@danielsmith7023 Taking their cue of false glory from their red masters.

[@TeunisD]

Thank you for producing this series about DDR. Very interesting.

[@JuanSanchez-pe9bu]

A fine video as always Olaf! Looking forward to when your channel gets the recognition it deserves!

[@mosaic.hunter]

Great stuff, Olaf! I would also highly recommend the book "The Race Against the Stasi: The Incredible Story of Dieter Wiedemann, the Iron Curtain and the Greatest Cycling Race on Earth" by Herbie Sykes to everyone who is interested in this topic.

[@isoflavon3704]

Thanks for the recommendation!! I’m following your instagram page and I was really positively surprised to see your comment on this channel.

[@erimbrk]

Hey, I love your stamp videos. Keep up with the great content!

[@NicholasKuqali]

Thanks for this.

[@chrismannion3418]

Every video is so well researched and produced. A must-watch series for anyone interested in history

[@Obrez1]

Fuck me bro, story of Geipel is horrifying. You don't have to read dystopian novels when there is real life stories of people like her.

[@grabham59]

Another great video Olaf! I think the thing that comes across is not the doping itself, but the lack of consent - how can a 10 year old child possibly give any informed consent to that? That's a terrible thing to have done...

[@AlbertSpeerPhd]

Excellent presentation, thank you.

[@TerryWhisk]

Don’t know if anyone has mentioned it yet but the opening intro tune is mixed extremely well from an audio engineering perspective. Fits the feel of the channel very very well.

[@DaveSCameron]

Nope, I’m pretty sure just you but I have thought highly of this channel’s production from the time I discovered it. 🇬🇧📚⚓️

[@RobJaskula]

Just wanted to say I picked up the book about Interflug that you recommended and it was very entertaining! I'll be checking this book out too

[@C2K777]

The implication and darkness of the statement from a coach to a pre/teen athlete of "Oh you aren't having enough sex" likely hints at the widespread, further 'assistance' those children were offered by their coaches.

[@JG-xk7ve]

They made those girls pregnant because it liberated some hormones, then they had to abort.

[@EcclesiastesLiker-py5ts]

It's a widespread phenomenon among sports coaches today, and if the east german government will look the other way about doping it shouldn't be surprising it also ignored other abuses.

[@EmyrDerfel]

The legacy of this was long in road cycling, with Ullrich and other DDR compatriots emerging together under Team Telekom (in the white and pink of Deutsche Telekom, later T-Mobile). Eventually Ullrich admitted to having been doping since his first professional year with Telekom in 1995, eventually being caught by Operación Puerto as a client of Dr Fuentes. Erik Zabel and Andreas Klöden were also doping within Team Telekom at the same time, along with West German Udo Bölts.

[@DebatingWombat]

Cycling has been rife with doping for decades, and arguably from the inception of professional cycling as a sport. I see little reason to single out Germans in particular.

[@mgunther68]

Another great video, thank you! Growing up in Magdeburg in the 1970's and 80's I don't remember the sad story about Jörg Sievers - I guess is was kept very much hidden. As a schoolboy, I was quite good at swimming and remember taking part in competitions but obviously not quite to the same level. Jörg most likely trained in the 'Elbeschwimmhalle' and this is where I completed a course to be a lifeguard. That pool is still there today, you can look it up on Wikipedia. I'm looking forward to the next mention of my home town on your channel😀

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

Thanks for your post! Visiting Magdeburg would be interesting.

[@mgunther68]

Let me know if you need any info😀 I'm living in Ireland now but go back there at least once a year to visit family. The "Gedenkstätte Moritzplatz Magdeburg" is probably very interesting.

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

@@mgunther68 If you like, please drop me an email, so that I can contact you directly.

[@SvenBollue]

Needless to say that this was again a very interesting episode of EGI. Many thanks for that!! I feel the urge now to go revisit Quedlinburg.

[@wtfwtf89]

Dope video!

[@Crabby303]

Another excellent and interesting video, thanks. I'd love to see the justice system in the GDR covered as a topic maybe?

[@paulwebbiweb]

Wow - another excellently researched and presented video! Really interesting material.

[@liliya_aseeva]

So that's why they rotate so quickly and each new starlet is better than the previous one. Makes sense! Poor girls. In our country such things happen usually in ice skating scene. It turned into a kind of showbiz, like what Korea does with its singers.

[@AndyNL]

nice presentation with lots of interesting inside information.thank you

[@FozzQuaker]

A country that won so many medals at the Olympics, that despite not existing for over 30 years, they still feature quite highly on the all time medal records

[@jamesurever3569]

It is interesting to note how the GDR barely participated in sports where doping was not making a big difference, and where strong western or asian competition existed. Table tennis, badminton, golf, basketball and high jump are examples. Sports involving mostly female athletes like in weight lifting or swimming are what they liked to train athletes for. The seven olympic gold medals won by Mark Spitz in Munich in 1972 was something very unlikely for a male GDR swimmer to ever achieve. Giving male hormones to a male may help a bit, but far less than it does improve the performance of a women.

[@greenpedal370]

Good point.

[@OsitoLauty-wv4in]

Excelent, interesting and unique...as always. Thank you so much for your content. Greetings from Chile!

[@UAuaUAuaUA]

By the time of the Montreal Olympics in 1976, the doping by the GDR was widely known. Famous quote concerning the low voices of his female athletes from the GDR trainer: "We didn't come for singing". "Beim Olympia in Montreal fielen die Möbelpacker-Kreuze und tiefen Stimmen der DDR-Olympiasiegerinnen besonders auf. DDR-Trainer Rolf Gläser dazu: »Die sind doch nicht zum Singen hier.«" Spiegel, 1977.

[@mootpointjones8488]

Excellent upload, thank you. I can't watch professional cycling today, without seeing dopers......

[@FlightMate]

Very interesting topic and very well researched as usual!

[@Sherpa199]

Another very interesting video. Many Thanks

[@lucem.glorifico]

Thanks again for the new great video!

[@papaunderwater3316]

introducing a forign object/substance into someones body without their consent is at the very least adjacent to assult one can not consent if one is being purposefully misinformed

[@TheBadCivilServant]

Billions of people around the world have been assaulted and misinformed since 2020 and 2021.

[@Veritas419]

Another great video!

[@bertenpetrasinagl2692]

Quality as usual, Olaf!

[@ourtransportationheritage]

Sad subject but one of your best reports yet. Mach weiter so!

[@holgerandersengrn3457]

Again an interesting, good and well done video - thank you

[@Lefaid]

I just found your channel. With channels like yours, I worry sometimes that they really just exist to glorify the autocratic regime they discuss. It is really cool to see a video of yours that is critical of East Germany. I am glad I am subscribed.

[@djlondon7956]

Absolutely fascinating. Thank you so much for this.

[@EcclesiastesLiker-py5ts]

Pumping children with drugs will have massive long term effects.

[@marknieuweboer8099]

Dutch fans of swimming have suspected this since Enith Brigutha consistently lost from Kornelia Ender in the mid 1970s. There is a nice Dutch documentary showing the two meeting each other decades later.

[@avus-kw2f213]

16:52 did anyone find it suspicious that a medium sized European country where doping was legal was doing so well in the Olympics ? Like seriously imagine if in Slovakia doping was legal and started doing extremely well in the Olympics It would be pretty obvious

[@kozzak80]

Best channel about GDR!

[@ned900]

Awesome! Loved it

[@displacedyankee7819]

excellent video

[@sandgroper1970]

I have read the book Faust’s Gold, which details the doping . Including the fact that the body entrusted with conducting the anti Doping testing in the GDR on behalf of WADA , also set up the protocols for the vitamin (steroid) use by the athletes by the coaches…

[@TheBadCivilServant]

"The East German 'women...'" --- Kent Brockman, The Simpsons.

[@natreso]

Is there history behind the "Fernsehturm" (Berlin Tv Tower)?

[@honeysbvttwr8507]

Thank you so much for the video, helped me so much with my research. (where I live, in Italy to graduate middle and high school you have to do a state exam and in some schools like in mine you can choose and argument and you have to choose a topic and talk about something related in every subject. I choose communism/socialism and in P.E. I'll talk about doping in the GDR. thank you sm again)

[@GiuseppeTurdo]

Ciao, sono l'autore del libro. Se ti servono ulteriori informazioni per la tua ricerca, fammi sapere. (Joseph)

[@MisterFastbucks]

They gave Shirley Babashoff such a hard time for complaining about this at the 1976 games in Montreal. Turns out her suspicions were absolutely correct.

[@wayneantoniazzi2706]

I remember that! Some were calling her "Surly Shirley" and a sore loser when she pointed out how much the East German swimmers had improved between 1972 and 1976, incredibly so. "NOBODY gets that good in four years without drugs!" she said. She was right.

[@anthonyvenegas8299]

@@wayneantoniazzi2706 ther was no rules for doping in 1976

[@wayneantoniazzi2706]

@@anthonyvenegas8299 Well they adopted the doping rules PDQ once it was realized what the East Germans were up to. If there weren't any rules prior to then it's most likely because it was never suspected.

[@pentu7738]

Peak for me was hammer throwing 88 in Soul. 2 OR from 2 GDR and followed by clean ofc not doped US WR :D

[@sutherlandA1]

A Wartburg is just a Trabant on steroids

[@efnissien]

Despite the humour around the issue of female doping with testosterone (see the film 'Top secret!') it is really tragic, several of these athletes suffered horrifically. And some underwent doping and still didn't make the cut - so were dumped out of the programme without any post 'treatment' care.

[@josephpickard3108]

Wild that East Germany was so poor at football, you'd have thought they would have done better

[@Khloya69]

Soccer*

[@thomas.0]

@@Khloya69 Football in Germany and the rest of the world, Soccer in North America - so that it's clear to everyone.

[@simonwest9450]

Even today there’s still a massive East-West divide in the domestic leagues. What happens when the Stasi own the biggest club in the nation.

[@sharonrigs7999]

The women should have shaved their armpits 🤢 It would have been more hydrodynamic

[@alangordon3283]

@@Khloya69football 🙄

[@oldmanc2]

Great video. I just ordered the book

[@cv990a4]

It wasn't secret. East Germany didn't admit it, but everyone knew. There were even funny beer ads in the United States the hinged on it. Here's a classic from the 1980s: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j6DUiJyArsdsedU

[@mabamabam]

Thanks for the link. Hilarious

[@dareustwo]

Agreed. It was more like an open secret. Even as early as 1984 in Val Kilmer’s movie Top Secret, the “women” athletes were openly mocking them. 😂 kzbin.info/www/bejne/j3-8lnh6pbR4g5o Yet another glaring failure of communism.

[@dareustwo]

That Miller Lite commercial with Joe Piscapo was really funny. The Bud Lite tranny promotion with Dylan Mulvany, not funny.

[@31Tetrahedron19]

When I was a kid watching the 1980 Moscow Olympics, my Father joked that the GDR female athlete looked like men. I letter learn't why. Could you please do a video on the American singer Dean Reed.

[@pentu7738]

only toped by the even hugher us atheletes ;D like in hammer throwing in 88. but compared to the 2000-2020 they are all small and tiny

[@DonnellOkafor_hateslgbtq]

I remember that.

[@skylineXpert]

Its how they put the emphasis on sport & culture. Its how they didnt want to lose but show the best...

[@ΜΙΧΑΗΛΤΖΑΝΑΚΗΣ]

Doping polities were very common procedure in Germany overall. For example let's not forget doping the Wermacht troops during WW2 or the totally drogued Mannschaft during the World Cup of 1954.

[@EdgyNumber1]

And Russia still does it today, years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, albeit a little less regimented than in the past. Fascinating video. 👍

[@Malvictis]

How would you even know that? Or are you simply projecting, being an ukor-lover and all that?

[@mabamabam]

@@Malvictis Systemic Russian sports doping has been going on long before the 2014 invasion. Literally no one doesnt know that.

[@GorgeDawes]

Have you been living in a cave? There are mountains of evidence and the subject has been extensively covered since the ludicrous Winter Olympics in 2014. The 2017 Netflix documentary film Icarus covers it in pretty gobsmacking detail.

[@johnmacaroni105]

This video needs to be seen by millions of Britons.

[@hazchemel]

Thank you. Hope you are well. How is it for your morale, that to look in any direction for your research, there is much sadness and injustice waiting to be discovered?

[@lisapet160]

How many viewers watched to the part of the video about advanced training methods and existence of clean top athletes in East Germany? Was the state support the only difference in doping usage between GDR and Western countries? No words about TUE applications among today's German athletes for comparison. How many are asthmatic in endurance sports and how many need remedies against ADHD in sports requiring precise moves and coordination? Could be zero, but it would be nice to know if it is so.

[@tjitse3916]

Interesting, fascinating, saddening and not surprising. Great to see some gave back their medals, but I fully understand that some wouldn’t return them, one can’t blame all for the crimes one can only prove in several cases.

[@wayneantoniazzi2706]

This should be an object lesson of what happens to the human body if you give it too much of what it already has or give it what it was never meant to have! All this should be kept in mind when speaking of "transitioning" children, which for some warped reason is in vogue in certain quarters. These poor East German kids lives were ruined, to say nothing of their long term health. Thanks for a very thought-provoking video!

[@annehersey9895]

I totally abhor the people that are blaming the victims and saying they could have refused or knew they were being doped. NO! They were children. If they refused they may still be in the program but you better believe any perks their families received would have gone away. They would have had more harsh treatment from coaches or given much less playing time. The Athletes themselves don’t deserve any blame, just assistance.

[@AIEnhanced-ts5ko]

In Romania we even had some "politically incorrect" jokes about Est German swimmers. Yeah, Est Germans were notorious for dropping in the socialist world.

[@anthonyvenegas8299]

Was it against the rules?

[@oerjanlothe2369]

0:39: 💉 State-supported doping program in former East Germany was highly structured, secretive, and involved the Stasi. 3:24: 💊 Covert administration of performance-enhancing substances to athletes in East Germany. 7:06: 💉 Health consequences and deaths due to doping in East Germany's athletes and their children. 11:00: ⚠ Devastating effects of secret doping on East German athletes, leading to health issues and identity struggles. 14:04: 💉 Revelations of widespread doping experimentation on East German athletes during the sixties. 18:10: ⚖ Legal consequences and support for victims of GDR doping, including compensation and new laws. 21:26: ⚖ Not all GDR athletes were involved in doping, as lack of evidence suggests innocence. Recap by Tammy AI

[@mmm91911]

I do not buy that argument that there wasn't anti-doping legislation in GDR and the legal system did as good as they could. This isn't about doping, it is about medical professionals administering substances that can have adverse effects without the recipient knowledge. I am sure GDR had legislation about that.

[@Neptune-space]

Best drug i ever took, so thankful for the gdr

[@figadodeporco]

Sweetheart, state supported dopping program existed everywhere.

[@DaveSCameron]

13:04 Respect and best wishes to Ines Geipol . 💙😎🙏🇬🇧

[@georgen9755]

Significant

[@scottscottsdale7868]

I had the occasion to meet a woman who had been part of the “medical” staff for the Soviet weight lifting team. She said the Germans were butchers who had no idea what they were doing. She said a good doctor could make the doling undetectable. So of course the entire Soviet sport system was being doped. All of it.

[@timothysimpkins6229]

Are there abandoned sports centres still standing in the former East Germany. Where former alethtics used to train!

[@rbrouns9569]

On KZbin there are many interesting documentaries, mostly in German, with eye witnesses. In the series Weissensee the theme of doping on a young boy is part of the story.

[@emirvmendoza]

16:53 Classic case of having cake and eating it too.

[@barse27]

Herr Otto Flick (very similar) ;-)

[@annehersey9895]

The Secrecy of the program AND the doping in Russia also were well known in the West and there were jokes about the East Germans every time the Olympics rolled around-sadly, often about the East German and Soviet Women who often looked more like men than the men did.

[@myriaddsystems]

A group of Olympic Women athletes put in a complaint because of serious concerns that some men had got into their changing rooms. They could distinctly hear male voices in close proximity. Turned out not to be men after all - but the East German Womens athletic team!

[@johnmacaroni105]

So under communism the individual is absolutely nothing.

[@tarastar7006]

Olaf, I was wondering, are you trilingual? English/Dutch/German?

[@jbond119]

is there a scrupulous way to dope?

[@rpere008]

I can recommend Dark Mermaid by Anne Lauppe Dunbar for an exploration of the doping system through fiction

[@danmorley8116]

Fascinating story. The DDR had a win-at-all-costs mentality with little thought for the welfare of the athletes. Not surprised to hear that Katarina Witt was subject to constant surveillance-that was also the norm for hockey players in Eastern Europe. (Still, what a beautiful and talented woman!) This is a great channel and I look forward to learning more about the DDR.

[@markuusss]

My man got his ears lowered

[@Erzfeind68]

Doping gab und gibt in fast jeder Sportart und in den führenden Sportnationen! USA. UDSSR, DDR, Kuba, BRD, und so weiter.

[@danlowe8684]

I'm only 3 minutes in and have already heard four, 8-syllable German words. In German it seems the number of syllables is directly proportional to level of sinister activity.

[@TheBadCivilServant]

"Farfegnugen" is as far as I can get in German.

[@erzsebetkovacs2527]

Thank you for this video. Concerning the judicial process against the state personnel who had devised and approved of state level doping, I find it interesting how history sometimes may repeat itself. After WW2, it was a real challenge to hold Third Reich medical personnel responsible in the Nuremberg Ärzteprozess. Those physicians claimed, too, that they had been acting upon orders, but in any case, the modern requirement of informed consent wasn't codified yet.

[@othyeighty]

Interesting topic I cannot stop asking myself if this country was in advance in matter of sport I have the feeling that all countries use more or less a doping system

[@DandDskeeto]

GDR 👧Athlete: “ Coach , these vitamins are male hormones. “ COACH: “ What makes you say that ? “ GDR 👧 Athlete: “ I’m growing body hair on my chest and it’s going lower “ COACH: “ How much lower ? “ GDR 👧 Athlete : “ All the way down to my 🍆 ! “

[@ViceCoin]

The East German olympic team was glorious! Modern althletes have the advantage of nutrition, modern healthcare, and sanitation. Sports just entertainment. Doping s hi ould be allowed.

[@reynalioness4992]

Not when you’re lying to the world and the doped athletes themselves

[@ImKinoNichtSabbeln]

The whole East block's doping system was that obvious that the 1984's movie "Top Secret" even ridiculed it, perhaps not knowing about all the serious medical consequences: m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/rH2tkJ2Mj9Ognrc Literally, everyone with open eyes, and knowing what men and women usually look like and can achieve even after intensive training, and could add 2 and 2, could/should have known. The Western public just did not consider the system's ruthlessness, whereas the Eastern public was in fear to speak up, or (willfully) naively celebrating their heroes. The mechanism resembles the denial of the shoah during and after it happened.

[@MIKEDOMO]

Sorry for whom still have nostalgic feelings for that failed state, happy to live in a united Deutchland, poor athletes.

[@LoganGames3ds]

I have nostalgia and i agree...

[@davidhatton583]

The dumb thing is even in the 1970s we here in the US knew something was up… I just remember that the thinking was these were Male athletes that had undergone sex change operations. Funny how the more things change the more they stay the same…. Witness the Women’s boxer 2024 controversy. The Olympic governing body has a very poor record of dealing appropriately with these issues.

[@DaveSCameron]

Or not so secret looking at the average ladies East German Shot-Putter in the 1970s… 😂😂😂😂

[@RonaldRueda910]

what about american barry bonds, lance amstrong etc.

[@alangordon3283]

What about them . This was state sanctioned not comparable .

[@hypergolic8468]

I would say that the difference was they knew what they were doing. In the GDR the people were given excuses and the truth hidden. As the end of the video says, doping still goes on today. The oddest situation was someone who had been caught doping was then banned by the UK Athletics for life, and yet still managed to get that ban over turned by Court order, sadly.

[@Mark-yy2py]

Exception rather the rule. Once it was learned they were doped, they were stripped of their records. Bonds won’t make the hall of fame. Armstrong and Bonds brought disgrace to their respective sport and themselves.

[@GorgeDawes]

Yeah, “what about”? Plenty of films about them too, you know. This is about doping in the GDR.

[@mattmackenzie1111]

​@@Mark-yy2pyflo jo, Marion Jones, Carl Lewis, Ben Johnson, lance Armstrong, tyson gay.

[@TheYizuman]

It's a shame that none of those involved never saw prison. They should have been sentenced for their crimes for destroying the lives of the athletics.

[@marceloquiroga8877]

pobres atletas despues quedaron discapacitados