By Steven V. Selthoffer
FRANKFURT, Germany, July 9. EVENTS were moving faster than news teams could react. Stepping off stage after a ZDF television interview with other members of the panel, Sport Director, Micheal Vesper, Deutscher Olympischer SportBund (DOSB), Chef de Mission for Beijing and Grünen Party executive stated, "What's going to happen in the next hour?"
German Cyclists and Olympic doctors were confessing in press conferences and on television talk shows. The major players in the doping constellation were falling like stars. Cyclists Bert Dietz, Udo Bolts; Christian Henn, Erik Zabel, Rolf Aldag, and Telekom 1996 Tour de France winner, Bjarne Riis all confessed to their involvement in doping. More are coming.
Sylvia Schenk, former President German Cycling Federation (BDR), said the entire cycling landscape was "morally rotten."
The pressure against doping in sports, beginning earlier with East German swimming, has been building steadily for the last seven years and forced a crack in the "wall of silence" dam, resulting in an avalanche of confessions in cycling and other sports over the past two months.
Then shockingly, Dr. Georg Huber admitted to supplying testosterone to amateur cyclists between 1980 and 1990. Huber was an Olympic team doctor in multiple winter and summer Olympic Games; Sport Doctor of the Year 2005; Doctor for the National Cycling Federation 1978; Member: NADA Medical Committee (National Anti-Doping Agentur) for four years; Member: Deutsche Ski Federation, and a member of the DOSB (Deutscher Olympischer SportBund – the German National Olympic Committee).
Wind Shift
The recent doping scandals and controversy are the successful results of arduous anti-doping efforts on behalf of many individuals, organizations and countries to bring about clean athletics, to root out cheats and to prosecute criminals in sports.
What has transpired in the past couple months in Germany, France, Italy and Belgium with the T-Mobile Cycling Team, the Tour de France exposures, the fall of Olympic team doctors and others across the sport spectrum, is being played out across the backdrop of an efficacious and unrelenting struggle against doping for more than 30 years, across five continents and through nine Olympic Game/quadrennial periods. The issues with German cycling today are not independent from the East German swimming program, the USA-East German swimming dual meets and in other sports and countries. The roots and issues go back decades.
The long-term administrative and education efforts of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the National Anti-Doping Organizations (NADOs), the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), FINA, Swimming World Magazine and other anti-doping endeavors are now paying dividends. Exposure. Scandal. Prosecution. This is what is wanted. This is what clean athletes, coaches and sport governing body leadership have longed for. Exposure. Scandal. Prosecution. Then repeat it – sport by sport, country by country. The momentum has turned.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and others are going after them. Rightfully so.
"The confessions and investigations undertaken so far aren't sufficient to clean up the sport," Chancellor Merkel said in a statement. "There has evidently been systematic and continued manipulation of unimaginable proportions in professional cycling."
Distinguished, Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, CDU; Bund Deutscher Radfahrer (BDR) President Rudolf Scharping; Deutscher Olympischer SportBund President (DOSB), Dr. Thomas Bach have a zero tolerance policy for doping and an even tougher policy when they feel they've been deceived and lied too about it.
Anti-Doping Movement
Swimming World Magazine is not a recent "corporate convert" making a commitment to clean sports and now dedicated to the anti-doping movement. Swimming World Magazine virtually started it.
In 1972, talks of a "miracle drug," that could increase performance filtered out of locker rooms in Europe.
Swimming World Magazine commented on the 1973 FINA Aquatic World Championships in Belgrade, Yugoslavia and published an early warning later that year about steroids. The results were ominous. Sport had changed forever. The pool had become the venue for the clash for superiority and national values between the USA and the Warsaw Pact.
After Belgrade and through the 80's, a young man named Phil Whitten, Editor in Chief, Swimming World Magazine, was often alone, and sometimes ridiculed about his concerns regarding doping in sports. Walking soberly and quietly, head bowed, hands in pockets, Whitten knew what was at stake. On numerous occasions, he could be seen sitting in the stands, engrossed in a discussion with a coach, parent or official, sometimes oblivious to the races, caught up in an in-depth conversation on the effects of doping, its negative effects on sports, the consequences for the USA and … how to fight it.
"They're not in an Ivory Tower. They're on an Ivory Planet."
Bob Stapleton, Team Manager, T-Mobile Cycling Team, basically is a good person and decent executive, well meaning, but misguided. Apparently, Stapleton has never represented his country in sports, nor has he coached a world-class athlete in his life. Stapleton doesn't know the long-term inside game. He is out of his field of play. T-Mobile called an impromptu press conference recently and fielded a limited and "sanitized" version of events concerning the doping among his personally endorsed, management team. Stapleton opened with a consulting managerial ploy, in which the person controlling the meeting, publicly asks himself two or three questions he knows he will get the desired answers to, from the parties in question, in order to garner public support for a predetermined course of action.
He discovered, "We now know we can win without doping." Brilliant. That principle was overwhelmingly established in front of the whole world more than 31 years ago. It was the "Lesson of the Montreal Games." In the 1976 Olympics, Dr. James E. Counsilman (Indiana University) was the Men's Olympic swimming coach for the USA that guided the U.S. team to winning 12 out of 13 gold medals, 10 silver and five bronze in which many consider one of the finest coaching performances in Olympic history. That was in direct contrast to the systematically doped East German women's team that resulted in the women taking 11 gold, six silver and one bronze medal.
Rolf Aldag, Stapleton's personally appointed Head of Sports Management, confessed to using EPO for more than four years on the tour from 1995 to 1999, according to Cycling News. Former Team Telekom cyclist Erik Zabel also confessed to using EPO during the press conference. Both later, during the same press conference became enthusiastic when Stapleton talked about making a "new commitment to clean sports." Stapleton obviously forgot the other commitments Aldag and Zabel previously made:
" … I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them, committing ourselves to a sport without doping and without drugs, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honour of our teams."- Athletes' Olympic Oath, Opening Ceremonies, Olympic Games
That "commitment" was made multiple times by both athletes.
After a brief telephone conversation with Team Milram's press contact, Stefan Schwenke, Schwenke confirmed Zabel made the 1996 German Olympic Team. Zabel failed to mention during the press conference, that the EPO he took in July at the first week of the 1996 Tour de France benefited him for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. Neither, Zabel nor Aldag stood up and volunteered to apply the rules governing the sport to themselves, disqualifying themselves and erasing their accomplishments during the time of their confessed infractions.
It's hard to believe that Stapleton thinks his new "Commitment to Clean Sport" is stronger than Pierre De Coubertin's and the IOC's. Stapleton, wrongly, did not demand that the former Team Telekom cyclists who doped, be stripped of their jerseys and titles, outsourcing the difficult part of sport leadership to others. As nice as he is, Stapleton demonstrated he is no Joe Paterno, Mark Schubert or John Wooden.
It's unspoken, but known among world-class coaches, that those who profit from doping and later become coaches or sport managers, if left alone, most likely, will never be able to turn in another doped athlete. As long as they are pulling in the results, they won't question too deep, and will turn a blind eye, preferring to let technology (doping control) catch them.
The current scenario is: dope and cheat, remain silent, have a sanitized "coming-out" press conference, confess, get the sympathy vote, enter races, conceal facts, make a "greater commitment to clean sport," keep job, do the talk show circuit, promote your sponsors, make money, do a whirlwind tour of speaking engagements, get more applause, enter more races, make more money, talk about book deals…
That's about to change.
Denmark's and Team Telekom's Bjarne Riis, who has admitted to taking the performance enhancing drug EPO during his Deutsche Telekom 1996 Tour de France victory, has been stripped of his title by Tour de France race organizer Amaury Sport Organization. The ASO said a "blank" has been left after the 1996 winner in its annual race guide. According to the ASO, the UCI has asked the former Telekom Team captain to return his yellow jersey.
A comprehensive framework is now being drawn up among sport governing bodies to prevent athletes, coaches or others from profiting from doping now and in the future. In the Bundestag talks of stiff penalties are being discussed and other firm measures.
Corrupt Doctors and Clinics
The University Clinic in Freiburg is Germany's top sport medicine facility. Doctors Lothar Heinrich and Andreas Schmid admitted that they supplied the blood booster EPO to riders on Team Telekom during the 1990s. Dr. Georg Huber was employed by several winter and summer Olympic sports federations and admitted to supplying drugs to amateur cyclists between 1980 and 1990. Huber was immediately suspended from the BDR German Cycling Federation after admitting to the offense. It was reported that Huber also said he gave the banned sex hormone, testosterone to amateur riders according to a statement by the University Clinic
Anti-doping expert, Dr. Werner Franke, University of Heidelberg, called the situation of doping among the doctors a "criminal scenario … criminality is criminality."
Franke is Mr. Anti-Doping in Germany. Franke was fuming during recent weekend telephone interviews on television with the various news channels. Franke called for a criminal investigation. BDR President Scharping was also raising his voice during the same follow-up television interviews, calling for immediate investigations.
The doping scandal spread across the main news channels, N24, N-TV, Phoenix, RTL, ProSieben, ARD, including revelations from newspapers such as the Frankfurter Allgemeine, Suddeutsche Zeitung, Frankfurter Rundschau, General Anzeige Bonn and others.
The coming investigations will call the role of some of the Olympic/NADA doctor(s) into question. What knowledge did they transmit? What knowledge of testing at the labs did they discuss with the athletes or team managers? Did they discuss when they would be tested and for what? Did athletes take advantage of that knowledge to use PEDs (performance enhancing drugs) during certain times or to avoid testing? We will only know, in part, during the coming investigations.
Huber's own testimony is sure to spark more controversy and questioning regarding his role for four years at NADA, the DOSB and other sport federations.
* Due to the volume of numerous technical translations from various sources in German and French into English, we apologize in advance for any inaccuracies or misstatements regarding the news reports. Thank you.
** We would like to thank Msr. Thomas Vial for his valuable assistance on this article. Mr. Craig Lord, The London Times for his perspective and insights, Mr. Guido Ross, and our friends in sports and the governing bodies.
Glossary
DOSB – Deutscher Olympisch SportBund (German National Olympic Committee)
Grünen Party – The Green Party, one of the five main political parties in Germany.
IOC – International Olympic Committee
NOC – National Olympic Committee
AFLD – French Anti-Doping Organization housing the laboratory
WADA – World Anti-Doping Agency
NADA – Nationale Anti-Doping Agentur (the National Anti-Doping Agency for Germany)
NADO – The generic term for a National Anti-Doping Organization of any country
TdF – Tour de France
PEDs – Performance Enhancing Drugs
EPO – Erythropoietin (a blood boosting drug preferred for long distance improvement to carry oxygen)
UCI – Union Cycliste Internationale (International Cycling Union)
CAS – Court of Arbitration and Sport, Lausanne, Switzerland
CDU – Christian Democratic Union (a German political party)
SPD – Social Democratic Party (a German political party)
Nederlands Meetinstituut (Netherlands Measurement Institution)
http://nmi.nl/home-1.pagina?lg=en