Heike Drechsler - Doping Allegations

Doping Allegations

There were many accusations of drug use while she competed for East Germany. She has never failed a drug test during her career; it is to be noted however that all East German athletes competing abroad were tested before departure to avoid getting caught In 2001, the BBC claimed she has admitted to unknowingly taking prohibited substances in the early 1980s under orders from her team doctors.

In 1991, after the fall of East Germany, Brigitte Berendonk and Werner Franke wrote several theses and dissertations quoting former GDR doping researchers in the Military Medical Academy Bad Saarow (MMA). The basis of the work reconstructed state-organized doping practices involving many well-known GDR athletes, including Heike Drechsler. Indications were that Heike Drechsler used high doses Oral Turinabol plus more testosterone ester injections before competitions from 1982 to 1984. In 1993, Drechsler challenged Brigitte Berendonk, accusing her of lying in a lawsuit. In the case, the full annual dosage schedules, and charts of the development of sport performance as a function of the dosage amount were released. Drechsler lost the lawsuit.