Why the GDR engaged in state-controlled doping
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Doping has long been a problem in sports. But no nation has used doping as actively as the GDR did from the mid-1960s, until the fall of the Berlin Wall. The country with approximately 19 million inhabitants was a communist dictatorship. People lived in fear and a dream of reunification with the rest of Germany. The country was divided after World War II. In the west there was rapid economic progress and democracy, in the east far worse economic conditions and dictatorship.
The GDR wanted to show its superiority
The main reason for the GDR’s doping program is probably to show the citizens that their social model was superior to that in the western part of Germany. Hardly anything is more measurable than the number of gold and medals in major championships. In a period of 20 years, the GDR received a total of 519 Olympic medals, divided between 5 participations in the Summer Olympics and 6 in the Winter Olympics. The GDR with its 19 million inhabitants was a superpower in sports.
A dictatorship that rules the country with brute force probably wanted to build a sense of nationalism. To build this, it was necessary to show results. Ideally, they were better than the Germans in the west. In a country where people were killed trying to cross the border to the west to meet their family, it was important to create an illusion. This illusion was the superiority of communism.
State-controlled doping
After the fall of the GDR and the unification of Germany, the systematic doping in the GDR was exposed. The disclosure occurred when archives were opened. The suspicion of systematic doping in the GDR lay there for years, the evidence was buried in the state archives.
Doping in sports is nothing new. It was probably a problem far earlier than the GDR’s entry into sports. It has also been a problem afterwards. What distinguishes this case from others is the systematic use of doping in all sports, controlled by the state over such a long period of time. Doping has been and is partly a problem in many different sports. It is enough to mention cycling, athletics, cross-country skiing and weightlifting. We have also seen organized doping after the fall of the GDR. It is enough to mention the Nordic World Ski Championships in Lathis (Finland) 2001, and the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia in 2014. In both of these cases it was limited to a championship. The dream of doing well at home was probably the driving force in both of these cases.
The health consequences of doping are well known. Use of anabolic steroids is great and often only comes after a few years. Of course, GDR did not make the athletes aware of side effects or the danger of long-term injuries. For the authoritarian state, it was one thing that mattered, to show its superiority.
Sources:
The East German Doping Machine (ishof.org)
Health consequences of PEDs continue to plague ex-East German athletes – Global Sport Matters