Doping by April Henning & Paul Dimeo

Author:April Henning & Paul Dimeo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Reaktion Books

6

Facing Up to the Scandals

The 1990s was the decade in which doping stories grew larger and more complex, while the anti-doping policy system looked increasingly incapable of keeping a lid on the problem.

Several global changes outside of sport were making the situation more critical. First, former communist countries were opening their borders. Within sport, this was a double-edged sword: it meant that anti-doping organizations could penetrate previously closed states, but it also meant that coaches from East Germany, the USSR and other Eastern European countries were free to move to other countries with their expertise of performance enhancement methods. Athletes who had been part of the East German doping system were now eligible to represent the reunified Germany. Second, with more political emphasis on free trade, both official and unofficial suppliers of enhancement pharmaceuticals took advantage of new opportunities. The legitimate anti-ageing industry that used hormone therapies under medical supervision began taking off during this decade. Despite the rapid growth of these legal methods, the black market for steroids in the USA was worth an estimated $300 million by 1990.1 Third, the rewards for success within sport were ramping up due to an influx of media and sponsorship money. The days of Cold War rivalries driving Olympic competitiveness were replaced with an individualistic approach for career success, and countries from the Global South encouraged their athletes to seek the rewards while bringing glory to their nations. The globalization and commercialization of sport had implications for the doping trade and opportunities for suppliers looking to help athletes enhance their performance. However, globalization also led to challenges for governments and international sports bodies that sought to keep doping under control. The scandals of the 1980s would prove the precursor for a turbulent 1990s.

The decade started with the most famous footballer in the world, Diego Maradona, being banned twice for doping. The second ban effectively ended his career. There was also the aftermath of the end of the East German state that saw reunification with West Germany and an attempt to prosecute the criminals of the former communist state in the newly unified German courts. The trials of the programme’s architects, Manfred Ewald and Manfred Höppner, gave former athletes a platform for testifying about the drugs they were given as young athletes and the health impacts they suffered as a result. Global media covered the story and presented further interviews with athletes. The devastatingly abusive nature of East German sports fed into the wider understanding of doping as evil and unforgivable and media stories continued in other countries about doping in elite sport. As the decade progressed, it became clear that international sports organizations needed to find better answers to the challenging questions posed by the evidence of systematic of sport doping cultures.

Yet there were some more ambivalent situations. Steroid use had become normalized in bodybuilding in previous decades, but this subculture was increasingly marginalized as fitness culture commercialized and expanded to include more diverse groups. Natural or drug-free bodybuilding also emerged in this decade, though steroid use remained widespread.

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