Peaceful competition
Doping in the GDR
Drugs and hormones promoted
the performance of the East German athletes:inside
In the course of state-organized doping under the name "Staatsplanthema 14.25" in the GDR, Oral-Turinabol was administered to competitive athletes as an anabolic steroid. It was mainly used to build up muscles quickly, which is why it was administered in particular in the disciplines of swimming, discus throwing and shot put, but also in the sprint disciplines.
Two forms of administration with different dosage are distinguished: The lighter tablets were pink in color and contained 1mg of active ingredient each. The stronger, blue tablets contained 5mg. These were also known as "blue lightning" or "blue beans". The doping agent Oral Turinabol was mostly administered to the athlete:s without knowledge of the actual effect.
The active ingredient of the tablets is dehydrochloromethyltestosterone , an artificial male hormone. It was developed for healing purposes after surgery.
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© COLD WAR MUSEUM
Cover of an information brochure on the doping drug "Oral-Turinabol
© Germed/Jenapharm
Application description of Oral-Turinabol in an information brochure.
The drug manufacturer Jenapharm published an anthology with information booklets as additional information on the marketed preparations.
In addition to the chemical structure, reference was made to the application, effects and side effects.
© Jenapharm
Logo of the pharmaceutical combine GERMED
Founded in 1979, GERMED united most of the pharmaceutical manufacturers from the GDR until its dissolution in 1989.
© wiki.commons
The use of doping substances in the GDR
The GDR saw the promotion of sports as a state task.
All means were justified in doing so. The Sports Medicine Service (SMD) played a decisive role.
Sports were promoted at an early stage in the GDR. Various sports clubs made it possible to promote the talents of young athletes, who were given financial security even after graduation if they showed recognizable athletic potential. For example, promising athletes received employment and training contracts with full pay from companies, even though they hardly had to be present at the workplace, if at all.
This fully financed their advanced sports education and, in addition, provided them with material goods such as cars and generous housing from the state.
Because of these privileges, most of them were loyal to the SED, but this loyalty was also due to the isolation and elevation of athletes in relation to other sectors of society.
© Germed/Jenapharm
Logo of the Sports Medical Service (SMD)
The SMD was to take care of the health of the athletes:inside. In addition to healing injuries, it was also intended to optimize fitness, which was to be promoted by tablets.
Internally, terms such as "supportive agents" (UM) circulated, which were administered to athletes. UMs were mostly anabolic steroids and other doping agents.
Led by the top of the "Deutscher Turn- und Sportbund" (DTSB, German Gymnastics and Sports Federation) and the SMD, doping was practiced nationwide and across age groups, including young athletes, since the end of the 1960s.
© COLD WAR MUSEUM
Coca Cola plastic cup
from the 1980 Moscow Olympics
Coca Cola was served at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. Although Coca Cola did not enter the Soviet market until 1985, the Coca Cola brand had been a major sponsor of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since 1928. Until then, the population of the Eastern Bloc countries had only been familiar with Pepsi Cola products, which were introduced in the Soviet Union in 1975.
A famous Soviet personality had a fondness for Coke as early as the 1940s: Georgi Shukov, Marshal of the USSR from 1943-1947, tasted Coca Cola during a state visit to the USA.
However, the drink was considered "imperialist," which is why he could not drink it in public. At Zhukov's request, then U.S. President Harry S. Truman asked the Coca Cola company to produce a colorless cola so that it would no longer be possible to tell that Zhukov and other party officials were drinking cola.
The "White Cola" was bottled in transparent glass bottles and sealed with a white lid with a red star.
© COLD WAR MUSEUM
