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Olympic Champion's Doping Confession and Ruined Health
24 Jan
Summary
- Olympic gold medalist admitted to state-sponsored doping program.
- Steroids ruined his health, leading to severe pain and sterility.
- He sold his gold medal due to financial struggles and health issues.
Ota Zaremba, who achieved Olympic weightlifting gold in 1980, has passed away at the age of 68. His career was shadowed by a later admission of participating in a clandestine doping program orchestrated by the former Czechoslovakia's totalitarian regime.
In 2006, Zaremba disclosed that the steroids he and hundreds of other athletes were routinely given in the 1970s and 1980s had severely damaged his health. He described needing strong painkillers for severe aches and mentioned that his health was "ruined." This difficult period led him to sell his Moscow Games gold medal for approximately $2,700.
Zaremba explained that athletes were pressured to join this "specialized care" program, modeled after those in East Germany and the Soviet Union, with refusal risking their place on national teams. He believed the doping program, which he participated in from 1979 to 1984, gave him a competitive edge, allowing him to win against other drug-using athletes.
