Sport, Drugs, And the Cold War: The Conundrum of Olympic Doping Policy, 1970-1979 (Essay‪)‬

This article addresses the development of anti-doping policies by Olympic officials during the 1970s. Although some progress was made during the decade, organizational and political inertia prevented the creation of an effective regulatory framework. In seeking to avoid expenses associated with drug testing and legal appeals of positive screens, International Olympic Committee leaders consistently claimed that other organizations in the Olympic Movement--International Sports Federations that governed each sport and organizing committees for individual competitions--held primary authority over the issue. As a result of this situation, unscrupulous athletes, coaches, and sports officials were able to take advantage of several loopholes within the Olympic Movement's doping control system. National sporting bodies on both sides of the Iron Curtain, motivated by political pressure to win medals at international competitions, either disregarded the problem or explicitly supported the use of drugs by their athletes. **********