Talk:Waldemar Cierpinski

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A discussion of the controversy surrounding this former East German athlete and drug doping would be useful.

Yesterday an anonymous editor (143.127.3.10) added extensive drug allegations. I have edited them to try to achieve NPOV. My understanding is that there is little if any proof of drug doping in distance running, though I'm willing to be convinced otherwise. I've also removed two of the three links: the medscape.com one required a subscription, while the other was a detailed list of references, but with nothing on Cierpinski, which I believe belongs more appropriately under East Germany or Doping (sport) rather than the Cierpinski article. Rocksong 02:22, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

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The current entry implies that allegations of doping come exclusively from Frank Shorter. That seems exceedingly unfair. Cierpinski is suspected of using performance enhancing drugs because: With about 10% of the population of the larger nations, GDR was second only to the Soviet Union in the number of Gold Medals won in 1976, 40 to the USSR's 49 and the USA's 35. Thousands of GDR athletes used performance enhancing drugs as documented in Stasi records. Cierpinski is listed in those records as #62. In the 1976 Summer Olympics, Cierpinski had no successful history in the marathon, yet he ran away from the best in the world, and to spectators and other competitors he seemed to be doing it easily, even to the extent that he ran an extra lap at full speed after crossing the finish line. Between Olympics, Cierpinski did not win major marathons, yet he easily beat the field in the 1976 and 1980 Olympics.

All of which proves nothing. However, to say, "1976 silver medallist Frank Shorter has advocated the belief..." and "no investigation or evidence to back the beliefs of Shorter has been conducted or come to light" does not accurately summarize the suspicions surrounding Cierpinski's victories in the Olympic marathon. Shorter is simply open about being one of the many people who suspect, for good reason, that Cierpinski used performance enhancing drugs to win in the Olympics. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.175.253.81 (talk) 18:21, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

A third Olympic gold medal denied to Cierpinsky?
There is no ground for the statement that Cierpinski "[...] was denied a chance of an unprecedented third Olympic marathon win by the Eastern Bloc boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics." He virtually stopped running after the 1983 Helsinki World Championships and announced his retirement from competitions shortly after the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Already before the boycott no expert thought him a real favourite to get any medal in the marathon. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.193.149.64 (talk) 01:12, 28 December 2012 (UTC)

Suspicious text
I can't find any source for this uncited information, which I have removed: After receiving the gold medal, he took part in various activities such as smuggling cars into, and heroin out, of Turkey. He violated UN no-fly zones in the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina, attempted assassination of NATO's Secretary General, and spent 15 years in a Russian prison, accumulating various strains of tuberculosis, mutant muscular tissue, scars, and a permanent grimace. Upon his release from prison he has returned to Germany and is currently active in athletics while pursuing a business career in a consulting firm. On the off chance that it happens to be true, could someone provide a reliable source? Jsc1973 (talk) 01:20, 30 December 2007 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.193.149.64 (talk)