Totalitarian Drugs

By David

Bernstein, a contributor to our previous article on drugs in American sport, posed the following question

“What were the motivations of the totalitarian regimes for cheating in the 70s versus today's cheats in a more capitalistic nation/world?

I cannot claim any profound knowledge of the workings of totalitarian state leaders. I do know of athletes I’ve helped who have suffered at their hands. In 1981, track athlete, Alison Wright was ranked in the world’s top ten in the indoor 1500 meters. Over the next few years all but one of those ranked ahead of her were done for taking some performance enhancing potion. Alison could well lay claim to having been the world’s second fastest runner; we will never know. Certainly it was a tough time to be a “clean” female middle distance runner.

Just over a decade later my understanding of the totalitarian mind received a quantum boost after reading the following New York Times report.

“A former swimming coach at a Potsdam sports club, Michael Regner, described how club physicians had initiated him in the distribution of anabolics to team swimmers, who included Kristin Otto and Silke Horner, both gold medalists at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Regner, who fled East Germany in August 1988, through Hungary described how a drug called Oral-Turinabol, manufactured by an East German company in Jena, was given to swimmers.’

They said Mike was living in Frankfurt and looking for work. I called and he accepted a coaching job working for me in New Zealand. I felt Mike had demonstrated his strong anti-drugs posture by taking his family, in mid-winter, through a guarded razor-wire fence where the price of being caught was instant execution. His commitment to the anti-drugs cause had been stronger than most of the rest of the world. Brendan Telfer from Radio Sport interviewed me about Mike’s employment. In a fit of righteous indignation , Telfer demanded to know why I was bringing this man to New Zealand. My answer was simple. Telfer may be against drugs but would his revulsion be sufficient for him to risk an East German bullet in the brain of himself and his family. I think not. Until Telfer could answer yes to that question, it was probably best for him to cut Mike and myself a bit of slack.

The time Mike spent in New Zealand had its ups and downs. There was a huge difference between the expectations of a man who had been at the vanguard of East Germany’s 10 women’s gold medals in Seoul and the resources of a New Zealand swimming club. It was difficult for Mike to understand that in New Zealand the state did not provide everything a swim coach wanted. Greenspan is right, capitalism is different and even a sophisticated, bright guy like Mike took time to adjust.

He did not try to hide his involvement in providing drugs to East German swimmers. He took me through his diary and showed me the occasions when performance drugs were administered. I was amazed at his meticulous recording and the frequency of their use. He was very firm on two points: the swimmers did not know they were being abused and he had no option. His livelihood and possibly his life were at risk should he fail to follow orders. He coached at the rank of Major in the East German army. The order to dispense drugs was expected to be obeyed. I believed him.

The really sad thing about it all was, if you put the abuse of drugs to one side, Mike was a brilliant coach. He had received a four year swim coach’s education in an East German University; a step up from what passes as coach’s education in some parts of the west – the USA excluded. The system they taught supported, without reservation the principles of the New Zealand track coach Arthur Lydiard. He and I saw eye to eye and never once disagreed on the training that was needed to produce a decent swimmer. He was fanatical about the benefits of good technique and 100 kilometers per week of aerobic conditioning; preferably at 5000 feet. The exceptional stroke drills he brought to New Zealand I still use today.

Mike was good enough that he left one question unanswered. If his East German superiors and been stronger ethical men, could Mike and his colleagues have achieved similar results without all those chemicals? I know you’re going to say, “No, because they haven’t done it since.” Remember though, they haven’t had the state resources behind them since either.

Why then did they use drugs? "Because they were told to" is certainly part of the answer. But the real question is why was the order given to include the blue 4mm Turinabol pills along with the vitamins and iron? Mike put it down to nationalism. Our nation wins at sport; therefore it’s better than yours. Our economic theory produces more gold medals; therefore it’s a better way than yours. Sounds stupid, doesn’t it; trying to prove the value of a nation and its economic management on the back of a sixteen year old's 200 breaststroke result.

Just about as stupid perhaps as invading Cuba, Korea and Vietnam were in trying to prove much the same thing. Abuse in the name of nationalism and economic theory comes in several forms and has many masters.