ABSTRACT
The outstanding performances of the ‘diplomats in track suits’ of a state with a population of little more than 17 million were integral to the country’s bitter long-term struggle with its West German sibling for sporting and political superiority. A striking feature of German Democratic Republic (GDR) doping at the early stage is the intensity of individual and institutional rivalries, for example, between Eric Mielke and Manfred Ewald and their respective sporting empires. GDR scientists developed programmes for peptide hormones erythropoietin and human growth hormones and devised methods for applying banned practices such as blood doping and urine substitution. The harm to athletes’ health is the most frequent criticism of GDR doping and a powerful justification for those supporting a form of paternalism in elite sport. The doping of children, including some younger than ten, at the training centres and the 25 Children’s and Youth Sports Schools is the gravest episode in the history of doping in the GDR.
