Alongside the inevitable horror, there is always a certain comedy involved in the collapse of authoritarian regimes. The performative projection of strength and infallibility reaches a point of absurdity at which it starts to look like obvious weakness: brittle, slightly silly and too fragile to withstand even the slightest challenge. Power becomes paranoia – and it becomes impossible not to laugh.
So it was with East Germany through the 1980s. The country struggled to establish much in the way of cultural soft power so sport became critical to the government’s sense of itself. Athletes were co-opted into the service of the state whether they liked it or not. “Medal intensive” sports such as track and field events and gymnastics were prioritised. There was a ruthless churn of contenders until the best prospects were identified. Many were pumped full of performance-enhancing drugs before being unleashed upon the sporting world like a squad of tracksuit-wearing Terminators.
