[Doping in disabled sports. Doping control activities at the Paralympic Games 1984-2008 and in Germany 1992-2008]

Abstract

Activities concerning the fight against doping with regard to the Paralympic Games have been initiated in 1984, when first doping controls were conducted. The foundation of the International Paralympic Committee exactly 20 years ago (1989) considerably supported systematic sports drug-testing programs specifically designed to meet the particular challenges related to disabled sports, which yielded a variety of adverse analytical findings (e.g., with anabolic steroids, diuretics, corticosteroids, and stimulants) especially at Paralympic Summer Games. In Germany, doping controls for handicapped athletes were established in 1992 and have been conducted since by the National Paralympic Committee Germany and the National Anti-Doping Agency. Also here, various analogies in terms of antidoping rule violations were found in comparison to doping controls of nondisabled athletes. In the present article, available numbers of samples analyzed at Paralympic Summer and Winter Games as well as within the doping control program for disabled sports in Germany are summarized, and particularities concerning sample collection and the doping method termed boosting are presented.