Faust's Gold : Inside The East German Doping Machine

Rating:
Summary: Faust's Gold
Review: "Faust's Gold" provides a fascinating account of the state sponsored exploitation and doping of innocent young girls for the purpose of glorification of the former East German regime thru international sports success. I was prompted to read Dr. Ungerleider's latest book thru some of the glowing reviews in the New York Times, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. I was not dissapointed. Dr Ungeleider does an amazing job of assimilating what must have been thousands of government reports documenting this state run doping program into an easy to read book that will provide future generations with invaluable insight into a totalitarian regime and the abuses it fostered to support its false goals. Dr. Ungerleider should be commended for linking these past abuses with the current problems facing the sports world, and his work will hopefully give future athletes pause before they engage in the use of performance enhancing drugs."

Rating:
Summary: Faust's Gold
Review: "Faust's Gold" provides a fascinating account of the state sponsored exploitation and doping of innocent young girls for the purpose of glorification of the former East German regime thru international sports success. I was prompted to read Dr. Ungerleider's latest book thru some of the glowing reviews in the New York Times, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. I was not dissapointed. Dr Ungeleider does an amazing job of assimilating what must have been thousands of government reports documenting this state run doping program into an easy to read book that will provide future generations with invaluable insight into a totalitarian regime and the abuses it fostered to support its false goals. Dr. Ungerleider should be commended for linking these past abuses with the current problems facing the sports world, and his work will hopefully give future athletes pause before they engage in the use of performance enhancing drugs."

Rating:
Summary: Faust's Gold turns to bronze
Review: A major disappointment as the story was repetitive and boring. Concentrated solely on the East German swimming teams with little original research. Should have been expanded to include other sports and especially the athlete's views on their participation in the doping. No one really believes these athletes were not in some way willing participants especially when the medals where being handed out, but the author does no investigative reporting but only rehashes various court documents and magazine articles.

Rating:
Summary: Faust's Gold turns to bronze
Review: A major disappointment as the story was repetitive and boring. Concentrated solely on the East German swimming teams with little original research. Should have been expanded to include other sports and especially the athlete's views on their participation in the doping. No one really believes these athletes were not in some way willing participants especially when the medals where being handed out, but the author does no investigative reporting but only rehashes various court documents and magazine articles.

Rating:
Summary: Chocking
Review: After reading this book I was stunned over the extent and how deliberate the East German doping program really was. Anyone who is interested in sports or history should read Faust's Gold. The author did a phenomenal job in researching and digging through court documents, STASI files and in disclosing the full story of what happened behind the iron curtain in a country obsessed with winning.

Rating:
Summary: Faust's Gold: a must read
Review: As a physician whose contact with competitive sports is limited to that of a spectator, I read this book with only a vague notion of the doping of athletes and the use of performance-enhancing drugs. I considered these activities as a minor and peripheral part of the Olympic games, believing that the IOC could and did expose them before they might influence the outcome.
"Faust's Gold" shattered my naivete about the glory of international sports competition and revealed an unremovable stain on my otherwise noble profession by a few despicable East German doctors. Perhaps other readers were aware; I wasn't, and I wish everyone else will read this book before watching the next Olympics.
I admire Ungerleider's ability to treat a politically and emotionally charged subject in a scholarly manner while keeping the reader riveted from beginning to end. A must read.

Rating:
Summary: Could have been better.
Review: During the late 60s, 70s, and 80s Soviet dominated Eastern Europe was pre-eminent in Olympic sports. None was more so than the late unlamented East Germany. This account uncovers the means to that success as well as the cost to those individuals.
At the 1976 Olympics, The USA's swimming champion, Shirley Babashoff, asserted that the then overwhelming dominance of East Germany's swimmers was due to drugs and "blood doping". Many in the Western media said she had sour grapes.
When the Berlin Wall fell, the former East Geramn athletes came forward with their accounts. Many were administered drugs without their knowledge, being told they were "vitamins". Those who suspected, complied because of the competitive advantage or fear of being set off the elite squads.
In later years, former athletes had medical problems or had offspring with disabilities. The medical problems were similar in most cases, deformities in offspring, problems with fertility, or problems relating to seconday sex characteristics(deepened voices with females or breast cancers with males). Even during the 70s and 80s there were anecdotes of East German female athletes that exhibited overly agressive behavior and having masculine builds.
Many doctors who administered these drugs were or are still practicing medicine in the new reunited Germany. The author followed the efforts of the former athletes to get compenstion from these doctors through the German courts.
What is so disquieting is that there are athletes the world over(American athletes included) that are still using these drugs even when the side effects are widely known. This is all in the name of winning. To the USA's credit the government isn't systematically administering these drugs.
To think many years ago many sports pundits thought the US should try to imitate East German methods.

Rating:
Summary: A scandal that is finally brought to light
Review: During the late 60s, 70s, and 80s Soviet dominated Eastern Europe was pre-eminent in Olympic sports. None was more so than the late unlamented East Germany. This account uncovers the means to that success as well as the cost to those individuals.
At the 1976 Olympics, The USA's swimming champion, Shirley Babashoff, asserted that the then overwhelming dominance of East Germany's swimmers was due to drugs and "blood doping". Many in the Western media said she had sour grapes.
When the Berlin Wall fell, the former East Geramn athletes came forward with their accounts. Many were administered drugs without their knowledge, being told they were "vitamins". Those who suspected, complied because of the competitive advantage or fear of being set off the elite squads.
In later years, former athletes had medical problems or had offspring with disabilities. The medical problems were similar in most cases, deformities in offspring, problems with fertility, or problems relating to seconday sex characteristics(deepened voices with females or breast cancers with males). Even during the 70s and 80s there were anecdotes of East German female athletes that exhibited overly agressive behavior and having masculine builds.
Many doctors who administered these drugs were or are still practicing medicine in the new reunited Germany. The author followed the efforts of the former athletes to get compenstion from these doctors through the German courts.
What is so disquieting is that there are athletes the world over(American athletes included) that are still using these drugs even when the side effects are widely known. This is all in the name of winning. To the USA's credit the government isn't systematically administering these drugs.
To think many years ago many sports pundits thought the US should try to imitate East German methods.

Rating:
Summary: Faust's Gold: a must read
Review: It is a masterful blend of high scholarship, investigative journalism, and riveting storytelling by the preeminent sports psychologist. I was spellbound and very disturbed by the personal tragedy, political intrigue, and corruption of the Olympic spirit running through this brilliant account of an astonishing sports scandal lasting decades and involving high officials of the East German government. After reading it, the reader's view of Olympic competition, or any other top-line sports competition, will never be the same.

Rating:
Summary: Riveting and Shocking
Review: It is a masterful blend of high scholarship, investigative journalism, and riveting storytelling by the preeminent sports psychologist. I was spellbound and very disturbed by the personal tragedy, political intrigue, and corruption of the Olympic spirit running through this brilliant account of an astonishing sports scandal lasting decades and involving high officials of the East German government. After reading it, the reader's view of Olympic competition, or any other top-line sports competition, will never be the same.