Two former East German swimmers accuse Otto of doping at’88 Olympics
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/06/2007 (6945 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
COLOGNE, Germany (AP) – Two top former East Germany swimmers have repeated allegations that Kristin Otto was on drugs when she won six gold medals at the’88 Seoul Olympics.
Rica Reinish, who won three golds at the’80 Moscow Olympics, told Friday’s edition of the Cologne Express that almost every athlete in the socialist former East Germany used performance-enhancing drugs.
“When she claims she cleaned up in Seoul in’88 without taking anything then I can only say she didn’t win six golds by drinking buttermilk,” Reinish said of Otto.
No specific evidence of the use of banned substances has surfaced about Otto. The systematic doping that turned the former East Germany into an Olympic powerhouse has been well-documented, however.
Otto has not taken a public stance on the charges, but German television ZDF – where she presents sports news on the nightly news – defended her on Friday.
“Kristin Otto gave a clear statement in a letter to our superintendent in 2000 that she never knowingly or willingly doped,” ZDF editor-in-chief Nikolaus Brender said. “As long as there is no evidence on the table, we stand by her.”
Both Reinish and Karen Koenig – a former European champion who also accused Otto of doping – said they were upset that Otto could retain her television job. Last week, ARD television fired two cycling reporters suspected of using banned substances while athletes.
“She was clearly doping, that was sufficiently known,” Koenig said Thursday on German television. “She had denied that for years, but on the other hand she presents the sports news – I find that a contradiction.”
The pressure on former sports stars in Germany to come clean about a doping past have mounted since several Telekom cyclists – including’96 Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis – confessed two weeks ago to using blood-boosting EPO in the’90s.