ABSTRACT

Given the importance attached to top-level sport in securing the international recognition of the GDR and in demonstrating the alleged superiority of socialism over capitalism, it is not surprising to find the MfS and its informers in all areas of elite sport. The GDR was a world power in sport: at the Olympic Games in Mexico City in 1968, the GDR team gained 25 medals (9 golds) and attained the unofficial third place behind the USA and the Soviet Union, a remarkable achievement for the 'diplomats in tracksuits' of such a small country. Twenty years later, its team won 102 medals, including 37 golds.