spate of deaths in international cycling in the 1960s led to
the first calls for drugs to be banned from sport, and for
athletes to be urine-tested. In 1967, British cyclist Tommy
Simpson--a user of various stimulants--died during a televised
stage of the Tour de France. The first Olympic drug tests were
introduced at the Mexico City Games the following year. By the
early '70s, state-run drug laboratories in East Germany and the
Soviet Union were working hand in hand with coaches and trainers
to breed a generation of superathletes, and devise a range of
doping methods that would defy detection. "After every workout I
got a 'cocktail' with vitamins," East German swimmer Kornelia
Ender, a quadruple gold medalist at the 1976 Montreal Olympics,
told SPORTS ILLUSTRATED in 1992. Petra Schneider won gold for
East Germany at the 1980 Moscow Games, but now suffers severe
heart and liver problems she believes are linked to the
"vitamins"--actually steroids--she was given. East German
shot-putter Heidi Krieger claims that steroids effectively
turned her into a man; now known as Andreas, Krieger has had a
sex-change operation to complete what she describes as an
irreversible process. Western sport has been characterized more
by individual drug users than drug regimes. Canadian sprinter
Ben Johnson's 100-m time at the Seoul Olympics may never be
beaten, but he is better known for the positive test to the
steroid stanozolol, which denied him a gold medal. Serial doper
Johnson returned to sprinting after a two-year suspension, but
was banned for life in 1993 after tests revealed a testosterone
count 10 times above normal. Australian cyclist Martin
Vinnicombe won silver at Seoul but tested positive for steroids
in 1991. His former manager, Phill Bates, told the Sydney
Morning Herald in 1996: "He knew the only way to win was to
cheat." Earlier this year, after four years of stunning
improvements in Chinese women's swimming, five team members were
sent home from the Perth World Championships after evidence of
drug taking. The courts have been as much a part of recent drug
charges as have vials and chemical analysis. Two years ago, a
Munich court ruled that former East German sprinter Katrin
Krabbe could sue the I.A.A.F. over a four-year suspension for
taking steroids, a move that prompted authorities to reconsider
the severity of the penalties they could impose. Future drug
penalties may be shaped by any legal action resulting from the
case of Irish swimmer Michelle de Bruin, who, as Michelle Smith,
won three gold medals at Atlanta, but who now faces a charge
that she altered a urine sample obtained in January. De Bruin
has denied this and has vowed to fight any sanctions against her
in the civil courts--potentially adding yet another twist of
complexity to an already labyrinthine problem.
spate of deaths in international cycling in the 1960s led to
the first calls for drugs to be banned from sport, and for
athletes to be urine-tested. In 1967, British cyclist Tommy
Simpson--a user of various stimulants--died during a televised
stage of the Tour de France. The first Olympic drug tests were
introduced at the Mexico City Games the following year. By the
early '70s, state-run drug laboratories in East Germany and the
Soviet Union were working hand in hand with coaches and trainers
to breed a generation of superathletes, and devise a range of
doping methods that would defy detection. "After every workout I
got a 'cocktail' with vitamins," East German swimmer Kornelia
Ender, a quadruple gold medalist at the 1976 Montreal Olympics,
told SPORTS ILLUSTRATED in 1992. Petra Schneider won gold for
East Germany at the 1980 Moscow Games, but now suffers severe
heart and liver problems she believes are linked to the
"vitamins"--actually steroids--she was given. East German
shot-putter Heidi Krieger claims that steroids effectively
turned her into a man; now known as Andreas, Krieger has had a
sex-change operation to complete what she describes as an
irreversible process. Western sport has been characterized more
by individual drug users than drug regimes. Canadian sprinter
Ben Johnson's 100-m time at the Seoul Olympics may never be
beaten, but he is better known for the positive test to the
steroid stanozolol, which denied him a gold medal. Serial doper
Johnson returned to sprinting after a two-year suspension, but
was banned for life in 1993 after tests revealed a testosterone
count 10 times above normal. Australian cyclist Martin
Vinnicombe won silver at Seoul but tested positive for steroids
in 1991. His former manager, Phill Bates, told the Sydney
Morning Herald in 1996: "He knew the only way to win was to
cheat." Earlier this year, after four years of stunning
improvements in Chinese women's swimming, five team members were
sent home from the Perth World Championships after evidence of
drug taking. The courts have been as much a part of recent drug
charges as have vials and chemical analysis. Two years ago, a
Munich court ruled that former East German sprinter Katrin
Krabbe could sue the I.A.A.F. over a four-year suspension for
taking steroids, a move that prompted authorities to reconsider
the severity of the penalties they could impose. Future drug
penalties may be shaped by any legal action resulting from the
case of Irish swimmer Michelle de Bruin, who, as Michelle Smith,
won three gold medals at Atlanta, but who now faces a charge
that she altered a urine sample obtained in January. De Bruin
has denied this and has vowed to fight any sanctions against her
in the civil courts--potentially adding yet another twist of
complexity to an already labyrinthine problem.