London - The man who helped expose the full horror of the East German doping regime in the 1970s and 1980s expects to see cases of cancer, heart attacks and other severe illnesses among Russian athletes forced to take performance-enhancing drugs.
Professor Werner Franke and his wife Brigitte Berendonk, a former West German Olympic discus thrower, have been instrumental in counting the human cost of Soviet-era doping and helping some of the thousands of abused athletes receive compensation.
They were horrified to realise the full scale of state-sponsored doping in Russia as revealed by a World Anti-Doping Agency independent commission this week and warned that the damage to athletes’ health will continue for decades.
‘I think most people think of this in terms of sports and betrayal,’ said Franke. ‘I see this as abuse of science, bodily harm and risking the lives of young athletes.
‘People will die because of this. I have seen cases of cardiac arrest sometimes a decade after the drugs have been taken and after their careers are finished. The women sometimes grow male body hair and an enlarged clitoris.
‘One of the worst things I see is cases of relatively young women suffering from a certain type of breast cancer induced by androgenic hormones (present in steroids that stimulate or control the development and maintenance of male characteristics).
‘The most recent case was West German Helga Arendt, the indoor 400m champion in 1989, who died in 2013 in her late 40s. I expect to see these sort of cases from this recent group of Russians; that is inescapable.
‘When you see androgenic hormones you get androgenic hormone induced tumours, there’s no way out. How frequent can be debated, that depends on the dosage and individual predisposition but a certain percentage will get it sooner or later.
‘In the 1970s and 1980s one of the side-effects of steroids we saw was lots of benign tumours. One of the world’s best known body-builders had 20 of these in his liver and died from a rupture and internal bleeding.’
Franke has developed a network of former East German athletes who have suffered long-term health problems from taking pills and shots which they were often tricked into thinking were vitamins and natural supplements.
Former shot-putter Heidi Krieger, who is now at the vanguard of the fight against doping in Germany, became so masculinised by her doping regimen that she underwent sex reassignment surgery and is now Andreas.
‘He is now a truck driver and very tall and masculine,’ said Franke. ‘He has to have testosterone injections every week and was furious to hear the news about Russia.’
The IAAF president Lord Coe will appear before MPs on December 2 to answer questions about the handling of athletics’ doping scandal. He will be quizzed about the IAAF’s response to doping allegations, including a remark in August - which now appears seriously misjudged - that investigations into suspicious blood results amounted to a ‘declaration of war on our sport’.
Franke urged Coe to raise funds to develop a test for hitherto undetectable performance-enhancing drugs. Franke said: ‘Get your guy Coe and say, “If you have any serious, believable substance in your body and soul you have to do something about this. You need to develop tests for things that are previously undetectable like IGF1 (an insulin-like growth factor which can speed up metabolism and increase energy).
‘As for Craig Reedie, the director of WADA, he is not really willing to fight against doping, that is very clear. Why is he head of WADA? He is not a chemist, he has no legal background.
‘I also have no trust generally in governments - the UK included - to sacrifice hearing the national anthem and medals for truth and protecting athletes.’
The doping scandal in Russia was blown wide open by a German TV documentary featuring key whistle- blowers - Russian former anti- doping officer Vitaly Stepanov and his wife Yuliya Stepanova. But Werner revealed they are paying a high price for their bravery.
‘They were resettled in Germany and Yuliya did some running here,’ said Franke, a professor of cell and molecular biology in Heidelberg. ‘But now they have fled Germany because they are afraid for their lives. It has happened several times that Russia takes action in these circumstances, it is a full criminal system.’
Daily Mail