For years and years....German journalists were always peppy to talk up East German use of doping in athletic events....especially the Olympics. Books were written....news interviews were continually pushed around, and various documentaries were pumped via state-run TV to let everyone know that the East Germans were always doping up their folks.
Well....time has passed, and some folks have come to realize that West Germany was also pumping up their folks with various drugs....to perform better.
Right now....it's just talk and no names. The guys who control the internal reports are at some odds here. The old theme was to release everyone's names in East Germany who did all this bad stuff. I would assume that they hate to mention West German names because of the perception that they were always clean....when they weren't. Reputations....will be tarnished.
Adding to this mess? Well....there's the legendary 1954 West German soccer team who went on to win the World Cup. Yeah, some of their folks were given the methamphetamine Pervitin. The common use of Pervitin today? It's 'speed'. How many players got it? Unknown. I don't think any German journalist wants to touch this topic because the 1954 German team is considered the Holy Grail of German topics.
With the election in full-swing.....I doubt that this gets to be page one news. Some journalists will casually mention this, and maybe it'll be dumped as a news topic after a week or two.
What Germans are left with.....a perception that all these medals and wins in the 1950s through the 1990s....probably weren't ethically-clean episodes. And those East German folks are quietly sitting there and admiring how history changes on a continual basis.
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