Manfred Ewald (17 May 1926 – 21 October 2002) served as

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

's (GDR) Minister of Sport (1961–1988) and president of his country's

Olympic committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

(1973–1990). He was convicted for his role in the state-sponsored system of the use of illicit

performance-enhancing drugs Performance-enhancing substances (PESs), also known as performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), are substances that are used to improve any form of activity performance in humans. Many substances, such as anabolic steroids, can be used to improve at ...

that increased East Germany's Olympic successes from 1972–1988.

Life

Ewald was born in Podejuch, Province of Pomerania,

Weimar Germany The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

(now Podjuchy, Poland), he was a member of the

Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth ( , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth wing of the German Nazi Party. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. From 1936 until 1945, it was th ...

, the

Nazi party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

and, after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the

Socialist Unity Party The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (, ; SED, ) was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from the country's foundation in 1949 until its dissolution after the Peaceful Revolution in 1989. It was a Ma ...

. He was captured by the Soviet

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

in 1944. He was awarded the

Olympic Order The Olympic Order, established in 1975, is the highest award of the Olympic Movement. It is awarded for particularly distinguished contributions to the Olympic Movement, i.e. recognition of efforts worthy of merit in the cause of sport. Tradit ...

by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

(IOC) in 1983. In 1985, as president of the National Olympic Committee of East Germany, Ewald authored a letter to the IOC for the 90th IOC session being held in

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

that year.http://www.la84foundation.org/OlympicInformationCenter/OlympicReview/1985/ore211/ore211f.pdf Ewald defended his role in sports doping in his 1994 book, ''Ich war der Sport''.

Doping

On 18 July 2000, in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Ewald and Dr. Manfred Höppner, East Germany's top sports doctor, were convicted as accessories to "intentional bodily harm of athletes, including minors." Both received

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offence (law), offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incar ...

. During the trial, Höppner testified that they had received approval from the highest level of government.

References

External links

The (London) IndependentBritannica Online Encyclopedia The Guardian UK"Fistic Medicine: The Benefit & Cost of Steroids" by Matt Pitt
1926 births 2002 deaths Politicians from Szczecin Politicians from the Province of Pomerania Nazi Party members Communist Party of Germany politicians Members of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany Government ministers of East Germany Members of the 4th Volkskammer Members of the 5th Volkskammer Members of the 6th Volkskammer Members of the 7th Volkskammer Members of the 8th Volkskammer Members of the 9th Volkskammer Free German Youth members Hitler Youth members German referees and umpires German military personnel of World War II German prisoners of war in World War II held by the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order of Karl Marx Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit (honor clasp) Recipients of the Olympic Order {{Germany-sport-bio-stub