Name Manfred Ewald | ||
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Born May 17, 1926 ( 1926-05-17 ) Podejuch, Germany (now part of Szczecin, Poland) Died October 21, 2002, Damsdorf, Germany | ||
Manfred Ewald (May 17, 1926 – October 21, 2002) served as German Democratic Republic's (GDR) minister of sport (1961–1988) and president of his country's Olympic committee (1973–1990). However, he is best known for his role as the architect of the state-sponsored system of using illicit performance-enhancing drugs to turn East Germany into an Olympic powerhouse between 1972 and 1988.
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History
He was a member of the Hitler Youth, the Nazi party and of the Socialist Unity Party (also known as the Communist Party).
He was captured by the Red army in 1944.
He was awarded the Olympic Order by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1983.
Doping scandal
On July 18, 2000, in Berlin, both Ewald and Dr. Manfred Hoeppner, who served as East Germany's top sports doctor, were convicted of being accessories to "intentional bodily harm of athletes, including minors." Both received probation. During the trial Dr. Hoeppner testified that they had approval from the highest level of the government of East Germany. Ewald had earlier defended his role in sports doping in his 1994 book Ich war der Sport.
Publications
As President of the National Olympic Committee of East Germany, in 1985 he authored a letter to the IOC for the 90th IOC session being held in East Berlin that year. He is also the author of Ich war der Sport (1994), wherein he defended his role in sports doping.