With the campaign “Your Sport. Your Decision.”, the National Anti Doping Agency of Germany (NADA Germany), together with Andreas Krieger, Thomas Götze, Léa Krüger, and Josha Salchow, is sending a strong message about health, fairness, and personal responsibility in sport. The campaign’s goal is to raise awareness, particularly among young athletes, about the long-term consequences of doping and to reinforce the value of clean sport.
This initiative is driven by current trends in international sports, where performance-enhancing substances are increasingly discussed and trivialized. Formats such as the planned “Enhanced Games,” in which the use of such substances is to be permitted, raise important questions regarding health, fairness, and the values of sport. The campaign addresses these discussions and puts them into context. It focuses on the perspectives of athletes and makes it clear that athletic performance is always linked to responsibility and conscious decisions.
At the heart of the campaign is an innovative discussion format in which former doping victims from the GDR engage in dialogue with active and former athletes. Among the protagonists are Andreas Krieger and Thomas Götze, who speak powerfully about the long-term health and personal consequences of state-organized doping in the GDR. These perspectives are complemented by former sabre fencer Lea Krüger and swimmer Josha Salchow, who share their views on today’s competitive sports and the associated scope for decision-making.
“There is no such thing as safe doping. We received performance-enhancing substances from our coach and were under medical supervision at the time. And yet I still got sick. Doping has permanently changed my life. Medications should be used to cure illnesses - not abused to manipulate the body beyond its limits. . No money in the world can give me my health back,” says Andreas Krieger, former shot putter and 1986 European champion. He is one of the few former elite athletes from the GDR who speaks publicly about doping practices in the GDR.
A central aspect of the campaign is contextualizing current debates surrounding performance-enhancing substances. While many athletes in the GDR system had no choice, athletes today face individual decisions, coupled with responsibility for their own health.
“Anyone who has ever publicly advocated for doping has no place in clean sport. Federations and the international sports community bear the responsibility to protect athletes and clean sport. This also includes not allowing financial incentives that normalize doping and preventing athletes from being turned into objects—and thus into lab rats,” adds Léa Krüger, former sabre fencer, Deputy Chair of NADA Germany, and Vice President of Athleten Deutschland e.V.
German history vividly illustrates how serious the health consequences of doping can be. Against this backdrop, the planned staging of the so-called Enhanced Games stands in clear contradiction to the core values of sport, such as health, fairness, and integrity.
“We are at a decisive point for the future of sport as we know it. In the context of our history and our conception of sport, as well as the responsibility we as athletes wish to assume as role models, this movement is a disgrace to sport. The federations, the international sports community as well as business and society, have a duty to protect athletes by creating an environment in which this kind of movement has no chance,” says Josha Salchow, multiple German champion and record holder in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle.
“We had no choice back then and were doped without our knowledge. The consequences are still felt today. This makes it all the more important that athletes today consciously use the opportunities they have and choose clean sport,” says Thomas Götze, a former GDR hammer thrower who advocates for coming to terms with the GDR sports system; he adds: “The body never forgets doping.”
The campaign’s content is being distributed across multiple NADA Germany channels. In a five-part YouTube series, the participants discuss in detail the pressure to perform, success, the myth of “safe doping,” health consequences, as well as role models and responsibility in sports. The discussion rounds are moderated by journalist and host Julia Kleine.
In addition, short video clips are being released for social media that convey the campaign’s key messages in a concise and accessible way.
With “Your Sport. Your Decision.”, NADA Germany creates space for open conversations, personal insights, and social context – and invites people to consciously engage with the values of sport.