Hajo Seppelt
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Hajo Seppelt (born 1963) is a German journalist and author.


Personal life and education

Seppelt was born in
West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
, and is the son of Alfred Seppelt, who was the head of the Berlin Chess Federation from 1984 to 2004. In 1981, he obtained his college preparatory degree (''
Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...
'') at the in Berlin's Lankwitz neighborhood. He studied sports, social studies, journalism and French at the
Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...
for a few semesters but did not complete a degree.


Career

Since 1985, Seppelt has worked as a sports reporter for Germany's premier public broadcaster ARD. He has also worked for the Berlin public broadcaster
Sender Freies Berlin Sender Freies Berlin (; abbreviated SFB ; ) was the ARD public radio and television service for West Berlin from 1 June 1954 until 1990 and for Berlin as a whole from German reunification until 30 April 2003. On 1 May 2003 it merged with Ostde ...
and its 2003 successor
Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (; "Berlin-Brandenburg Broadcasting"; abbreviated: RBB , stylized as rbb) is an institution under public law (national broadcaster) for the German states of Berlin and Brandenburg, based in Berlin and Potsdam. RBB ...
. After working for many years as a live commentary for swimming events for ARD, he was stripped of this duty in the early summer of 2006. Seppelt said that this was in reaction to a private email, in which he criticized ARD's uncritical reporting on doping, becoming public. Since 2006, he has worked as a freelance journalist for ARD and has made a number of reports and documentary films about doping.


Doping in Germany

Together with former Canadian swimmer Karin Helmstaedt, Seppelt made the documentary film ''Staatsgeheimnis Kinderdoping'' (State Secret Child Doping) about the perpetrators and victims of doping in East German swimming. It was broadcast by ARD. Together with Holger Schück, he published the book ''Anklage: Kinderdoping. Das Erbe des DDR-Sports'' (Indictment child-doping: The Legacy of East German Sports) in 1999. It also dealt with the topic of state doping in Communist East Germany. In 2006, Seppelt reported extensively about the doping problem in
cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...
. Among other things, his research led to the identification of the German physician Markus China as a member of the doping network organized by Spanish doctor
Eufemiano Fuentes Eufemiano Fuentes (born 1955) is a Spanish sports doctor who was implicated in the Operación Puerto doping case. Biography Fuentes was once an athlete. He then became the team doctor of Team ONCE, Amaya and Kelme. The former Kelme rider Jes ...
. In November of that year, he was awarded the ''Leuchtturm für besondere publizistische Leistungen'' (''Lighthouse Prize for Special Journalist Achievement'') by the journalists' association Netzwerk Recherche for his research, reports and exclusive revelations about cyclists
Jan Ullrich Jan Ullrich (; born 2 December 1973) is a German former professional road bicycle racer. Ullrich won gold and silver medals in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He won the 1999 Vuelta a España and the HEW Cyclassics in front of a home crow ...
and
Floyd Landis Floyd Landis (born October 14, 1975) is an American former professional road racing cyclist. He finished first at the 2006 Tour de France, and would have been the third non-European winner in the event's history, but was disqualified after test ...
and
Eufemiano Fuentes Eufemiano Fuentes (born 1955) is a Spanish sports doctor who was implicated in the Operación Puerto doping case. Biography Fuentes was once an athlete. He then became the team doctor of Team ONCE, Amaya and Kelme. The former Kelme rider Jes ...
. In the documentary "Mission: Clean Sport" Hajo Seppelt and Jo Goll documented the work of German doping control officers. The film highlighted flaws in Germany's doping-control system and caused heady public discussions, which contributed to structural changes in Germany's National Anti Doping Agency (NADA). The report won the ''Silver Chest Award 2007'' at the International Television Film Festival in
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and the international ''Sports Movie and TV Award 2007'' in
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
. The film was also nominated for the ''German Television Prize'' and the ''
Prix Europa {{notability, Events, date=March 2021 PRIX EUROPA – The European Broadcasting Festival – is the Europe's largest annual tri-medial festival and competition. The event takes place in the third week of October in Berlin, Germany. PRIX E ...
''. In mid-January the German Skiing Association (DSV) took legal action, and a Hamburg court issued an injunction against Seppelt for refusing to make a cease-and-desist declaration demanded by the DSV about suspicions that German
cross-country skiers Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...
and biathletes had engaged in
blood doping Blood doping is a form of doping in which the number of red blood cells in the bloodstream is boosted in order to enhance athletic performance. Because such blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the muscles, a higher concentration in the bl ...
in a Vienna laboratory. A superior court in Hamburg overturned that ruling in Seppelt's favor, concluding that DSV had no right to demand the cease-and-desist declaration because it was not affected by the journalist's reporting. The ruling was based constitutional guarantees of journalist freedom in cases of anonymous sources. The judgement also overturned an injunction from 21 October 2008. Seppelt's suspicion could not be proved after extensive investigations. In January 2012 Seppelt and colleagues from the Western German public broadcaster WDR had reports featured on ARD and WDR sports programs about the blood of thirty athletes being exposed to ultra-violet radiation by a sports doctor in the Eastern German city of Erfurt. Several of the athletes concerned were named. In the wake of the broadcasts, a discussion arose as to whether such procedures were banned according to the
World Anti-Doping Agency The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; french: Agence mondiale antidopage, AMA) is a foundation initiated by the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against drugs in sports. The agency's key ...
(WADA) code. WADA itself considered them to be. Anti-doping investigations of the athletes ended up with discontinuations and acquittals due to extenuating circumstances, and a criminal investigation of the doctor concerned was also discontinued. Nonetheless, many experts declared that blood treatments were banned in principle by the laws governing sports. The doctor tried to get a superior court in Cologne to issue an injunction against WDR, but the broadcaster won out, and the report was allowed to contain references to "forbidden blood treatments."


Doping in China

Parallel with the
2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
in Beijing, ARD broadcast the 45-minute-documentary ''Olympia im Reich der Mittel: Doping in China'' (''Flying High in the Middle Kingdom: Doping in China''), which Seppelt made with Jo Goll. The film reported about doping and doping controls in China, in particularly above proven case of stem-cell manipulation carried out on top athletes. At the International New York Film Festival, it won a world gold medal for long-form reporting. It was also awarded the main prize at 2009 Sportfilm Liberec 2007 – World Facts Challenge festival.


Doping in Kenya

In the spring and summer of 2012, Seppelt and Kempe reported for the first time about doping among Kenyan track-and-field athletes. The focus was primarily on practices among doctors in the background. One athlete told of widespread doping among Kenyan long-distance runners. The reports caused intense reactions in Kenya and met with considerable international resonance. As a result, doping controls were stepped up in the country. The documentary ''Doping – Top Secret: The Shadowy World of Athletics'' shows that it is relatively easy to obtain banned performance-enhancing drugs in Kenya. It traces the story of an impoverished young runner who seems to have died from the side effects of taking EPO. Kenyan athletics authorities refused to speak with Seppelt about the issue, and his film presents circumstantial evidence of corruption among Kenyan sports functionaries. Former Boston marathon winner Rito Jeptoo asserts that Kenyan athletes are not subjected to blood tests while training. Another Kenyan runner claims that the national federation suppresses positive doping results in return for bribes. Seppelt also suggests the International Association of Athletics Federations isn't doing enough to address the problem of doping in endurance disciplines. After evaluating data on athletes' blood collected at major athletics competitions over a number of years, two Australian scientists conclude that doping is the only plausible explanation for some of the measurements. The IAAF also refused to speak with Seppelt about his suspicions. In August 2015, he presented a nearly hour-long report questioning athletics in general and Kenya's long-distance runners in particular. Shortly before the IAAF World Championships in London, German broadcaster ARD aired a new episode of ''Doping Top Secret'' in August 2017, titled "The Big Money Run. Africa's Athletes on Sale." The feature by Hajo Seppelt, Benjamin Best, Ulrike Unfug, and Grit Hartmann particularly examines people surrounding and influencing African Athletes in track and field disciplines. It focuses not only on doping, but also delves into shady practices of managers and into the numerous changes of nationality that occur in this core Olympic sport.


Doping in Russia

In December 2014 ARD broadcast Seppelt's film ''Geheimsache Doping: Wie Russland seine Sieger macht'' (''The Doping Secret: How Russia Makes its Winners''), made with the help of Russi athletes who told their stories in front of the camera. In this 60-minute documentary, whistleblowers testified to systematic doping in athletics and other sports in Russia. The film presents evidence for these allegations in form of footage and audio recordings secretly made by the whistleblowers as well as official documents. The documentary attracted global media attention and was broadcast worldwide in a number of languages. After its broadcast in Germany, several figures in international sports organizations and anti-doping institutions either resigned their posts or were suspended. In March 2016, in its Sport Inside program, the WDR broadcast another film on doping in athletics with a focus on Russia: "Geheimsache Doping: Russlands Täuschungsmanöver" ("The Doping Secret: Russia's Red Herrings"). In it, Hajo Seppelt, together with co-author Florian Riesewieck, showed how Russian coaches and officials avoided conditions of the World Athletics Federation IAAF and the World Anti-Doping Agency WADA. The 30-minute documentary once again received extensive international attention and was broadcast in several countries. In November 2016 the documentary "Doping – Top secret: The protection racket" (by Hajo Seppelt, Florian Riesewieck, Olga Sviridenko and Felix Becker) was aired in ARD's weekly programme "Sportschau". It is based on a joint investigation by the French newspaper ''
Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
'' and the ARD doping editorial team. The documentary is about criminal activities linked to doping and cover up in international athletics. In May 2018 ARD announced that Russia had declared void a visa issued to Seppelt so he could report on the
2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...
, citing Russia stating that Seppelt is on a list of unwanted persons. In May 2018 Seppelt and Florian Riesewieck produced another episode of the documentary series "Doping Top Secret" on ARD – titled "Russia's Football Friends". This time they focused on suspicious facts in football in Russia, host country of the World Cup.


2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

Seppelt added his voice to the controversy about the ROC doping issue at the Figure skating competition at the Beijing Winter Olympics. On 14 February 2022, the
Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its co ...
(CAS) ruled that Valieva should be allowed to compete in the women's single event, deciding that preventing her from competing "would cause her irreparable harm in the circumstances", though her gold medal in the team event was still under consideration. The favorable decision from the court was made in part due to her age, as minor athletes are subject to different rules than adult athletes. The IOC announced that the medal ceremony would not take place until the investigation is over and there is a concrete decision whether to strip Russia of their medals. By 9 March 2022,
Travis Tygart Travis Thompson Tygart (born 1971) is an American lawyer and CEO of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). He is best known for his role in exposing Lance Armstrong's massive doping operation. Life and career A native of Jacksonville, ...
of the
USADA The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA, ) is a non-profit, non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization and the national anti- doping organization (NADO) for the United States. To protect clean competition and the integrity of sport and prevent d ...
reported that Valieva had not requested that her "B" sample be tested, apparently accepting the results of initial testing and relying on her explanation that the banned substance TMZ belonged to her grandfather and only accidentally contaminated or became mixed into her own use of allowed nutrients and supplements. Tygart further stated that as a minor Valieva could still be either fully exculpated or given a warning concerning her testing positive depending on the extent of findings in the on-going
RUSADA The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA; russian: Российское антидопинговое агентство, РУСАДА), established in January 2008, is the Russian National Anti-Doping Organisation (NADO), affiliated with (but suspen ...
investigation of doping. According to Tygart, an adverse finding against her as a first offense could still be assessed as a two-year suspension, which is half of the suspension time which could be assessed for adults. Seppelt voiced the opinion, supporting reports submitted by WADA to the preliminary hearings with Valieva, that the coincidence of Valieva's assertion to have accidentally been exposed to her grandfather's heart medicine while admitting to taking other similar supplements used for heart endurance should require further investigation.


Doping in Weightlifting

On 5 January 2020, Seppelt released a documentary on ARD titled 'Secret Doping – the Lord of the Lifters'. In the documentary, Seppelt uncovers that weightlifters as young as 13 in
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
are encouraged to take performance-enhancing drugs. In a secret recording, Seppelt also captures footage of Olympic bronze medalist
Siripuch Gulnoi Siripuch Gulnoi ( th, ศิริภุช กุลน้อย) formerly Rattikan Gulnoi () is a Thai weightlifter. She competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the women's 58 kg. She set personal bests in both the clean and jerk and the snatc ...
admitting to taking performance-enhancing drugs before winning bronze at the
2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
. Other secret footage also captures a doctor with the Moldovan weightlifting team claiming that they used doppelgangers to give urine samples for athletes in exchange for payments. The documentary also made claims of corruption against the IWF and its president,
Tamás Aján Tamás Aján (born January 12, 1939) was the President of the International Weightlifting Federation from 2000 to 2020 and was a member of the International Olympic Committee until 2010. Early life and career Born in Gherla (Szamosújvár), Rom ...
, resulting in him stepping aside from the role pending an investigation and resigning as an IOC honorary member. He eventually resigned from his position as president permanently on 15 April. The president and entire executive board of the Thai Amateur Weightlifting Association (TAWA) also resigned from their positions. The new acting president of the IWF appointed Richard McLaren, the Canadian lawyer whose investigative work did so much to expose state-sponsored doping in Russia, to lead the investigation into corruption and doping in weightlifting.


Other reports

Prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, ARD broadcast the 45-minute-documentary "Flying High in the Middle Kingdom: Doping in China", which Hajo Seppelt produced with Jo Goll. The film reported about doping and doping controls in China, in particular, about proven cases of stem-cell manipulation carried out on top athletes. At the International New York Film Festival, it won a world gold medal for long-form reporting. It was also awarded the main prize at the 2009 Sportfilm Liberec 2007 – World Facts Challenge Festival. Prior to the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin, ARD broadcast the documentary "Doping Top Secret: The String-Pullers in Athletics" by Hajo Seppelt and Robert Kempe about the people who pull the strings in doping in track-and-field. Prior to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, ARD broadcast the 30-minute feature "Geheimsache Doping Eiskalter Betrug" ("Doping Top Secret: "Ice-Cold Cheating"). In it, Hajo Seppelt, Robert Kempe and Jochen Leufgens took a look behind the scenes at winter sports. In the wake of research by Seppelt in September 2010 about the world's top cyclist
Alberto Contador Alberto Contador Velasco (; born 6 December 1982) is a Spanish former professional cyclist. He is one of the most successful riders of his era, winning the Tour de France twice ( 2007, 2009), the Giro d'Italia twice (2008, 2015), and the Vue ...
, the
Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues racing ...
had to admit that the Spanish
Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...
winner had turned up positive in doping tests. It emerged that the UCI had wanted to keep secrets a positive test by Contador for the substance
Clenbuterol Clenbuterol is a sympathomimetic amine used by sufferers of breathing disorders as a decongestant and bronchodilator. People with chronic breathing disorders such as asthma use this as a bronchodilator to make breathing easier. It is most commonl ...
at the Tour de France in July 2010. In February 2012, Contador was retroactively banned for two years, from August 2010 to August 2012, by the International
Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its co ...
(CAS) for Clenbuterol use. In May 2011, Seppelt and co-filmmaker Kempe had the chance to film footage about sports for a week in
Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populatio ...
, the capital of
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
. The result was the documentary film ''Sport in Nordkorea – Einblicke in eine unbekannte Welt'' (''Sports in North Korea – A Look at an Unknown World''), which was broadcast by ARD in July 2011. In 2013, Seppelt and Kempe completed a critical documentary about
Thomas Bach Thomas Bach (born 29 December 1953) is a German lawyer, former Olympic foil fencer and Olympic gold medalist, serving as the ninth and current president of the International Olympic Committee since 10 September 2013. He is also a former memb ...
, shortly before he was elected president of 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 ...
. In January 2017 Germany's ARD television aired another part of its "Doping Top Secret" series. The new episode focussed on Russian whistleblower Andrey Dmitriev. Frustrated with the persistence of doping in his home country's athletics community, the runner made secret video recordings. The footage enabled him to prove that a big-name coach suspended due to doping links is still working with athletes. In April 2017, Hajo Seppelt and his colleague Thilo Neumann revealed the existence of positive doping tests for Clenbuterol in the context of follow-up checks during the 2008 Olympic Games in Peking. The journalists also uncovered that the IOC kept these results a secret in consultation with WADA. Research showed that the IOC did not follow up on these cases, even though the organization's regulations demand further investigation in case of positive doping tests. Among the athletes who were tested positive, there was at least one Jamaican sprinter. The IOC's declaration, stating that the positive tests were a result of the athletes' consumption of meat from China which supposedly contained Clenbuterol and that therefore there where no investigations concerning other possible causes, engendered worldwide criticism. In June 2017 the German Broadcaster a new Episode of "Doping Top Secret", titled "Brazil's dirty game", was aired by ARD. The documentary by Hajo Seppelt, Florian Riesewieck und Thilo Neumann examined the topic of doping in the host country of the last Football World Championships and of the last Olympic Games. Massive failings and shortcomings of Brazil's doping prevention plans where substantiated. Additionally, a multitude of indications for a culture of doping, deeply rooted in Brazil Football and stretching up to the national elite could be found. In June 2018 on occasion of the Football World Cup in Russia ARD German TV aired a documentary titled "Doping Top secret: Brazil's Twelfth man" (Authors: Hajo Seppelt, Florian Riesewieck, Edmund Willison) about doping in
Brazilian football Football is the most popular sport in Brazil and a prominent part of the country’s national identity. The Brazil national football team has won the FIFA World Cup five times, the most of any team, in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002. Brazil an ...
.Dopingskandal skakar Brasilien mitt under VM Fotbolls-VM 2018
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, 2 July 2018 (in Swedish)


Awards

*2018 German Sports Journalist of the Year *2018 Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany *2018 Gold World Medal at the New York Film Festivals in the category "Current affairs" for "Doping Top secret: The Big Money Run – Africa's Athletes on Sale" (Co-Authors: Ulrike Unfug, Benjamin Best and Grit Hartmann) *2017 Play the Game Award (together with the whistleblowers Vitalyi Stepanov and Yuliya Stepanova) *2017 Mention D'Honneur in the category "Sport & Society" for the documentary film "Doping – Top Secret: The Big Money Run – Africa's Athletes On Sale" at the international film festival of Federation Internationale Cinema Television Sportifs in Milano *2017 Main Prize at International Festival Sportfilm Liberec – International FICTS Festival for the Documentaries "Showdown for Russia" and "Russia's Red Herrings" (Co-Authors: Florian Riesewieck, Olga Sviridenko and Felix Becker) *2017 Tagesthemen Award for the reporting on doping in Russia *2017 Gold World Medal at the New York Film Festivals in the category "Current affairs" for "Doping Top secret: Showdown for Russia" (in cooperation with Florian Riesewieck, Felix Becker and Olga Sviridenko) *2017 Nomination of the WDR program sport inside for the 53rd Adolf Grimme Prize (member of the team of authors) *2016 Winner of the Open Russia Award für independent news journalism and investigative research on Russian topics *2016 International Sports Movies TV Award in the category "Sport & Society" for the documentary film "Doping – Top Secret: Russia's Red Herrings" at the international film festival of Federation Internationale Cinema Television Sportifs in Milano *2016 Nomination Tagesthemen Award (sports category) for the story "ARD requests unwelcome: IAAF President Coe's poor start" *2016 Laureate of the
Hanns Joachim Friedrichs Award The Hanns Joachim Friedrichs Award is a German award for excellence in journalism. It was first awarded in 1995. The award is named for the German journalist Hanns Joachim Friedrichs Hanns Joachim "Hajo" Friedrichs (15 March 1927 – 28 March 1 ...
for TV journalism *2016 Nomination of "Doping – Top Secret: Showdown for Russia" for PRIX EUROPA 2016 (category TV Current Affairs) *2016 Nomination for the Austrian Film and Television Award Goldene ROMY for "Doping – Top Secret: The Shadowy World of Athletics" in the category "Best TV Documentary" *2016 Finalist at the New York Film Festivals in the category "Best Investigative Report" for "Doping – Top Secret: The Shadowy World of Athletics" *2016 Bud-Greenspan-Award der New York Track and Field Writers for the documentaries "Doping – Top Secret: How Russia makes its winners" and "Doping – Top Secret: The Shadowy World of Athletics" *2016 German Television Prize in the category Best Sports Program for "Doping – Top Secret: How Russia makes its winners" and "Doping – Top Secret: The Shadowy World of Athletics" *2015 Awards at the first global competition for sports journalism, the "Sports Media Pearl Award" (by AIPS) in Abu Dhabi: first prize in the category Video documentary for "Doping – Top Secret: The Shadowy World of Athletics" and special prize in the category "Best investigative reporting" *2015 Award of the Berlin-Brandenburg Journalists Association: "Langer Atem" – for dedication and perseverance in journalistic research. Winner of the second prize for longstanding coverage about doping in sports, particularly for the recent reporting about doping in Russia *2015 German Sports Journalist of the Year *2015 Media Award of the German Athletics Federation for Hajo Seppelt and the ARD doping research department for the coverage of doping in Russia *2015 International Sports Movies TV Award in the category "Sports Values" for the documentary film "Doping – Top Secret: The Shadowy World of Athletics" at the international film festival Federation Internationale Cinema Television Sportifs in Milano *2015 Nomination of "Doping – Top Secret: How Russia makes its winners" for the International TV-Award of the Asian-Pacific Broadcasting Union in the category "Documentary" *2015 Silver World Medal at New York Festivals in the category Best Investigative Report for the documentary film "Geheimsache Doping: Wie Russland seine Sieger macht" ("Doping – Top Secret: How Russia makes its winners") *2013 German Television Prize in the category Best Sports Program for the WDR program sport inside (together with Tom Theunissen, Florian Bauer, Matthias Wolf, Marc Schlömer, Ulrich Loke and Reiner Lefeber) *2011 Nomination of the WDR program sport inside in the category Best Sports Program for the German Television Prize 2011 (together with Tom Theunissen, Marc Schlömer, Jochen Leufgens, Fred Kowasch, Ulrich Loke and Reiner Lefeber) *2009 Nomination of the WDR program sport inside in the category Best Sports Program for the German Television Prize 2009 (together with Tom Theunissen, Marc Schlömer, Klaus Fiedler, Fred Kowasch, Ulrich Loke, Reiner Lefeber and Jochen Leufgens) *2009 Main Prize, International Festival Sportfilm Liberec – World Facts Challenge for the ARD "Olympia im Reich der Mitte: Doping in China" (with Jo Goll) *2009 Nomination for the 45th Adolf Grimme Prize in the category Special Prize for his "persistent and courageous researching on the topic of doping and excellent achievements in reporting" *2009 Gold World Medal at the New York Festival TV & Video Award, in the category Best Investigative Report (Long Form) for the documentary "Olympia im Reich der Mitte: Doping in China" (with Jo Goll) *2008 Nomination of the WDR program sport inside for the 44th Adolf Grimme Prize (member of the team of authors) *2007 Nomination German Television Prize in the category Best Sports Program for "Mission Sauberer Sport" ("Mission Clean Sports") with Jo Goll *2007 German Sports Journalist of the Year *2007 International Sports Movies TV Award for the documentary "Mission Sauberer Sport" ("Mission Clean Sports") in the category "Documentary" at the international film festival of Federation Internationale Cinema Television Sportifs in Milano (with Jo Goll) *2007 Silver Chest Award at the International Documentary Film Festival in Plovdiv for "Mission Sauberer Sport" (with Jo Goll) *2007 Main Prize at the international festival Sportfilm Liberec – World FICTS Challenge for the ARD exclusive "Mission Sauberer Sport" (with Jo Goll) *2006 "Leuchtturm" of the network Netzwerk Recherche, for special journalistic achievements *2003 Great Television Award of the Association of German Sports Journalists for the educational documentary "Doping: A dangerous game" *2001 Great Television Award of the Association of German Sports Journalists for a film about the East German doping victim Andreas Krieger *1998 Great Television Award of the Association of German Sports Journalists for the documentary "State Secret Children's Doping" about Doping in East Germany (Co-Author: Karin Helmstaedt) *1992 Great Television Award of the Association of German Sports Journalists for a documentary about Berlin's bid for the 2000 Olympics (Co-Author: Johannes B. Kerner) *1989 Great Radio Award of the Association of German Sports Journalists for a radio feature about the New York Marathon


Publications


Books

* With Holger Schück: ''Anklage: Kinderdoping.'' (Indictment: Child Doping) Tenea Verlag,


Selected television reports and documentary films

* With Karin Helmstaedt: ''Staatsgeheimnis Kinderdoping'' (''State Secret Child Doping''), 1997 * Gedopt: Wie eine Frau zum Mann wurde.2001 * Doping: Ein gefährliches Spiel. 2002 * Vom Einheitssport zur Vereinigung. 2005 * mit Jo Goll: Mission: Sauberer Sport. 2007 * mit Jo Goll: Olympia im Reich der Mittel: Doping in China. 2008 * mit Robert Kempe: Geheimsache Doping: Die Drahtzieher der Leichtathletik. 2009 * mit Robert Kempe und Jochen Leufgens: Geheimsache Doping: Eiskalter Betrug. 2010 * mit Robert Kempe: Sport in Nordkorea: Einblicke in eine unbekannte Welt. 2011 * mit Robert Kempe: Kein Wunder: Kenya bangt um den Läufer-Mythos. 2012 * mit Robert Kempe: Thomas Bach: Der neue Herr der Ringe? 2013 * ''Geheimsache Doping – Wie Russland seine Sieger macht'' (''The Doping Secret: How Russia Makes its Winners'') 2014; broadcast on ARD * Geheimsache Doping: Im Schattenreich der Leichtathletik. 2015; broadcast on ARD, 2015-08-01 ("Doping – Top Secret: The Shadowy World of Athletics")


References


External links

* * http://hajoseppelt.de/2015/08/doping-top-secret-the-shadowy-world-of-athletics/ * https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/jun/16/sebastian-coe-moment-of-truth * https://www.bbc.com/sport/athletics/33749208 {{DEFAULTSORT:Seppelt, Hajo German sports journalists German sports broadcasters German male journalists Living people Doping in sport German television journalists 20th-century German journalists 21st-century German journalists Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 1963 births Journalists from Berlin ARD (broadcaster) people Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg people Journalism as a Profession Awards winners