ABSTRACT
When Jesper Skibby chose to make his confession by means of a detailed description of his use of doping over many years, the revelations naturally aroused considerable media interest in Denmark. Such was the status and profile of the golden generation within Danish society that a similar level of media attention would have been aroused if any of the riders had authored a similar confession. The fact that it was Skibby who came forward, however, had wider implications. Skibby was one of the most popular riders of his generation, always accommodating towards journalists, always cheerful and ready to respond with a funny comment. What was more, he always gave the impression of being an upright, warm person with a gentle and appealing nature. That it should have been Skibby who confessed made it difficult to maintain the illusion that sportsmen who used doping were nasty people.
