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Rewind radio: The Record Fakers; Lauren Laverne – review Rewind radio: The Record Fakers; Lauren Laverne – review
(5 months later)
The Record Fakers (5 Live) | iPlayerThe Record Fakers (5 Live) | iPlayer
Lauren Laverne (6 Music) | iPlayerLauren Laverne (6 Music) | iPlayer
It's easy to laugh at doping in sport. For a start, there's those sniggersome words "performance-enhancing". Also, given that many people's experience of illegal drugs is, shall we say, spontaneous and recreational, rather than a carefully monitored, highly confidential element of an elite training package, it can be hard not to look at the lighter side. Every ropey stand-up makes jokes about sportspeople trying to compete on drugs. (They hug each other instead of competing! They get on the podium and wave glow-sticks!) The latest? Did you hear the one about the Godolphin racehorse? We had our suspicions when it won the Tour de France.It's easy to laugh at doping in sport. For a start, there's those sniggersome words "performance-enhancing". Also, given that many people's experience of illegal drugs is, shall we say, spontaneous and recreational, rather than a carefully monitored, highly confidential element of an elite training package, it can be hard not to look at the lighter side. Every ropey stand-up makes jokes about sportspeople trying to compete on drugs. (They hug each other instead of competing! They get on the podium and wave glow-sticks!) The latest? Did you hear the one about the Godolphin racehorse? We had our suspicions when it won the Tour de France.
But there wasn't much to laugh at during 5 Live's investigation into the East German doping programme for athletes during the 1970s and 80s, The Record Fakers. The doping was sanctioned from the very top, by the DDR government – under State Plan 14.25 – because it wanted the country's athletes to demonstrate to the world that communist methods were the best.But there wasn't much to laugh at during 5 Live's investigation into the East German doping programme for athletes during the 1970s and 80s, The Record Fakers. The doping was sanctioned from the very top, by the DDR government – under State Plan 14.25 – because it wanted the country's athletes to demonstrate to the world that communist methods were the best.
It's not really a surprise, I suppose, but the consequences, the fine details, were just appalling. I had my hands to the side of my face in classic Home Alone shock for part of it, when Ines Geipel, who ran in the DDR's 4x100m relay team, told her tale of falling in love with a Mexican man while competing in South America. She informed her boyfriend when she returned. The boyfriend worked for the Stasi, and informed on her. The DDR government thought that, if they supplied an East German man who looked like the Mexican, Ines wouldn't want to defect. That didn't work. So they tried to get her to join the Stasi. No go. So they – I still can't quite get my head around this – told her she had to have her appendix out, and had the surgeon cut through all her stomach muscles so she could never compete again. They operated on her, and deliberately mangled her insides. "She is to be strategically extinguished," reads her Stasi file. "I carried the division of Germany in my stomach," she said.It's not really a surprise, I suppose, but the consequences, the fine details, were just appalling. I had my hands to the side of my face in classic Home Alone shock for part of it, when Ines Geipel, who ran in the DDR's 4x100m relay team, told her tale of falling in love with a Mexican man while competing in South America. She informed her boyfriend when she returned. The boyfriend worked for the Stasi, and informed on her. The DDR government thought that, if they supplied an East German man who looked like the Mexican, Ines wouldn't want to defect. That didn't work. So they tried to get her to join the Stasi. No go. So they – I still can't quite get my head around this – told her she had to have her appendix out, and had the surgeon cut through all her stomach muscles so she could never compete again. They operated on her, and deliberately mangled her insides. "She is to be strategically extinguished," reads her Stasi file. "I carried the division of Germany in my stomach," she said.
Then there was Heidi Krieger, a shot putter. She unknowingly took so many anabolic steroids that she eventually had a sex change. She is now Andreas Krieger. "They killed Heidi," he said.Then there was Heidi Krieger, a shot putter. She unknowingly took so many anabolic steroids that she eventually had a sex change. She is now Andreas Krieger. "They killed Heidi," he said.
The difference between the East German athletes' stories and that of, for example, Lance Armstrong, is that Armstrong made his own decision to take drugs. The DDR team didn't know they were on them. Often they were just children – of 12, 13 or 14 – when they were first supplied, and were told by their coaches that they were taking vitamins. Court cases brought in the past decade have revealed that many athletes have subsequently suffered from cancer, or metabolic problems. Some have had disabled children.The difference between the East German athletes' stories and that of, for example, Lance Armstrong, is that Armstrong made his own decision to take drugs. The DDR team didn't know they were on them. Often they were just children – of 12, 13 or 14 – when they were first supplied, and were told by their coaches that they were taking vitamins. Court cases brought in the past decade have revealed that many athletes have subsequently suffered from cancer, or metabolic problems. Some have had disabled children.
There's a knock-on effect on others, too. One UK athlete recalled how she was watching the 2012 Olympic opening ceremony on TV and loving it, when it was mentioned that all previous Olympic winners were in the stadium. Not her, then, although, if the East Germans she competed against hadn't been taking drugs, she would have won gold and she would have been there. Just another thing, she said, cheerfully, along with her lack of financial security. Only medal-winners get sponsorship, you see. The winners take it all: the glory, the medals, the name in the record books, the coaching, the masseurs, the money. It's no wonder that some East German athletes will never confess, no matter how much evidence is laid before them.There's a knock-on effect on others, too. One UK athlete recalled how she was watching the 2012 Olympic opening ceremony on TV and loving it, when it was mentioned that all previous Olympic winners were in the stadium. Not her, then, although, if the East Germans she competed against hadn't been taking drugs, she would have won gold and she would have been there. Just another thing, she said, cheerfully, along with her lack of financial security. Only medal-winners get sponsorship, you see. The winners take it all: the glory, the medals, the name in the record books, the coaching, the masseurs, the money. It's no wonder that some East German athletes will never confess, no matter how much evidence is laid before them.
A lighter note? Try 6 Music's Lauren Laverne, who brightened the day for a particular type of music-lover with her electro-clash playlist on Thursday. She played Fischerspooner's Emerge! A few people across the country got misty-eyed and neon-hued. Though it's her TV that gets all the review attention, I'd like to point out that Lady Laverne is an excellent radio-er. If she doesn't get a golden gong at next month's Sony awards, I'm going to demand a drug-test for anyone who beats her. That could cause some fun.A lighter note? Try 6 Music's Lauren Laverne, who brightened the day for a particular type of music-lover with her electro-clash playlist on Thursday. She played Fischerspooner's Emerge! A few people across the country got misty-eyed and neon-hued. Though it's her TV that gets all the review attention, I'd like to point out that Lady Laverne is an excellent radio-er. If she doesn't get a golden gong at next month's Sony awards, I'm going to demand a drug-test for anyone who beats her. That could cause some fun.
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