How the Cheating of East and West Germany Reveals a Global Trend of Doping in International Sports

In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, representing the end of both a deep physical and ideological divide between East and West Germany. The fall of the Berlin Wall revealed a state-sponsored doping program in East Germany created in order to compete for the political and economic symbol of strength: Olympic medals. Years later, the exposure of widespread West German doping in competitions shows the capacity of cheating to spread like a pathogen, passed from one nation to another in a pattern still visible today. Though East and West Germany were the epicenter of the doping outbreak, the trend spread globally and ultimately led to the establishment of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which continues to struggle to limit this form of cheating today. This paper recounts the beginnings and ends of the East and West German doping programs, the beginnings of WADA, and offers insights into how the spread of cheating has had massive ramifications on the modern sporting world. Part of the panel: Crime and Punishment Moderator: Brenda Frink