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

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

's (GDR) Minister of Sport (1961–1988) and president of his country's Olympic committee (1973–1990). He was convicted for his role in the state-sponsored system of the use of illicit performance-enhancing drugs that increased East Germany's Olympic successes from 1972–1988.

Life

Ewald was born in Podejuch, Province of Pomerania, Weimar Germany (now Podjuchy, Poland), he was a member of the

Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. ...

, the

Nazi party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

and, after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Socialist Unity Party (also known as the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

). He was captured by the Soviet

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

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. Traditi ...

by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

(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 ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

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 and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, Ewald and Dr.

Manfred Höppner Manfred Höppner (born 16 April 1934 in Weinböhla, Germany) served as the German Democratic Republic's (GDR) top sports doctor. He and Manfred Ewald, the GDR's minister of sport (1961–1988) and president of the country's Olympic committee fro ...

, East Germany's top sports doctor, were convicted as accessories to "intentional bodily harm of athletes, including minors." Both received probation. 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 UKThe LA Times "Fistic Medicine: The Benefit & Cost of Steroids" by Matt Pitt
1926 births 2002 deaths Politicians from Szczecin People 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 Patriotic Order of Merit (honor clasp) Recipients of the Olympic Order {{Germany-sport-bio-stub