Voice 1
Hello, and welcome to Spotlight. I'm Steve Myersco.
Voice 2
And I'm Robin Basselin. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
The Olympic Games. An international celebration of great sporting achievement. Its organisers encourage sportsmen and women to be true to the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect. For people who follow the Olympic ideas, winning is not the only important thing. They also want to perform as well as they can. And they want to show respect to themselves and other people. However, some individuals are not happy unless they win. And he or she may be prepared to use any means to make that possible. But what if it was not just one individual who wanted success at all costs - but a whole country? And what if that country's government was willing to cheat to make this happen?
Voice 2
This is not just a story. It really happened. The country involved was East Germany. This state is now part of a united Germany. But between the years of 1949 and 1989, East and West Germany were separate states. Another Spotlight programme tells more about the reasons for this. It is called "Germany's Sporting Shame - Part One."
Voice 1
East Germany had a population of around 17 million. The East German political system limited people's human rights. The country was isolated and unpopular with some western European countries. Also, East Germany's economy was not very strong. The government wanted to find some area where their country could compete with other countries across the world - and win. And so, the government turned to sport as a way of doing this. The result was State Plan 14.25.
Voice 2
State Plan 14.25 was a government project started in 1974. It involved finding children who showed a gift for sport. These children then attended special sports schools. There, they trained hard. And there, they received daily amounts of drugs from government doctors. These officials told the children that the drugs were vitamins - natural substances that the body needs. In fact, the ‘vitamins' were a drug called Oral Clembuterol. This built up a person's muscles and improved their sporting performances.
Voice 1
State Plan 14.25 continued until 1989. During that time, East German sports stars did bring much success to their country. But many people in the world of sport suspected that drugs were behind these victories. They did not believe that such great success was just the result of skill and hard work.
Voice 2
In the end, it was a political event that showed the truth. In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell. Berlin was the capital of East Germany. However, a large wall divided the city. Western international forces controlled one half. And East German forces controlled the other. The East Germans had built the wall in 1961. They wanted to prevent citizens from moving to the West to live. However, by 1989, relations between East and West had improved greatly. The wall came down. And one year later, East and West Germany united to become one state.
Voice 1
In the world of sport, East and West Germans began to compete as one team. Former West German sporting officials were very pleased about this. Now they had excellent sportsmen and women competing for their team! One of these athletes was a young woman, Katrine Krabbe. She was a top runner. And many people believed that she would win the gold medal at the 1992 Olympics. But one day, things went badly wrong. Katrine failed a sporting drugs test. Running authorities banned her from competing for two years. And people began to learn the truth about the truth about State Plan 14.25.
Voice 2
Former West German officials began to investigate the behaviour of East German scientists. A lot of evidence for State Plan 14.25 had been destroyed. But enough remained to show that almost all of East Germany's top champions had taken drugs.
Voice 1
Experts believe that up to ten thousand sports men and women were given drugs during State Plan 14.25. And most of these athletes did not know about it. When some of them did discover the truth, they were shocked. Birgit Boese was one of these athletes. Later, she told Reuters:
Voice 3
"Some athletes feel they had to blame themselves because they did not notice. You feel dirty when you discover the truth...The more international success you had as an athlete, the more you feel like a criminal."
Voice 2
State Plan 14.25 left athletes with deep feelings of guilt. But it also left them with severe health problems. Today, many of them suffer from heart and liver problems, lack of growth, depression. Some sports women were left unable to produce children. But what happened to the scientists and doctors responsible for this situation?
Voice 1
Ten years after people learned the truth, the police arrested a number of doctors and officials. However these people only received small punishments. And many of them were not willing to admit that they were responsible. They claimed that the East German government forced them to act as they did.
Voice 2
Plan 14.25 has left its mark on German sport. But today, German sporting authorities are working hard to keep sport free from drugs. Anyone caught taking drugs now receives a ban from competition. Many German people believe it is time to forget this dark time in their country's history and move on. But this attitude makes the Plan 14.25 victims angry. Ines Geipel is one of these victims. She told the BBC:
Voice 4
"We can always talk about pardoning the officials involved. But there must be a reason for doing that. They would have to tell us first what exactly they did to the children they cared for...Many athletes are dead, or severely damaged - but people are saying 'Okay, let us move on. Let us continue with life'. It is insane. I think that we deserve to be treated with a bit more decency and respect."
Voice 1
The victims of State Plan 14.25 say that they need to hear the whole truth. They need to hear the people were part of this project admit their guilt. Only then will the victims be able to fully forgive.
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