Turning the pages back... August 12, 1984 (08/10/03)

Turning the pages back...

August 12, 1984

The Ukrainian Weekly reported on August 12, 1984, that Marylandbased human rights group Smoloskyp Ukrainian Information Service had held a press conference accusing the Soviet Union of killing its Olympic athletes by administering to them dangerous performance-enhancing drugs and subjecting them to biological and physical experiments.

Smoloskyp presented as evidence a list, obtained from Soviet athletes, of 59 Soviet Olympians who had competed in Olympics from 1952 to 1984 and had died prematurely. While some might have died in unrelated accidents, Smoloskyp argued, the majority had likely succumbed to the effects of state-administered drug use. Of the 59 dead Olympians, 24 had won gold medals.

The number of dead Soviet Olympians, according to Smoloskyp, was stunning compared to corresponding numbers from other countries. Considering athletes who had competed in the summer Olympics from 1952 to 1976 and in the winter Olympics from 1956 to 1976, 4.45 percent of Soviet medal winners had died. By comparison, only 1.79 percent of United States medal winners and 1.53 percent of German (East and West combined) medal winners had passed away in that time. The death rate for Soviet Olympic medal winners was approximately 2.5 times higher than the corresponding statistics for the United States and Germany. The average age of the athletes on Smoloskyp's list at time of death was 41.5 years.

According to the Smoloskyp statement, the Soviet authorities frequently hid news of the athletes' deaths from the Soviet people. The Soviet media did not report the death of Ukrainian Volodymyr Kuts, winner of the 5,000, and 10,000-meter track events in 1956, who died at the age of 48; Ukrainian canoeing champion Yulia Riabchynska, who won the gold at Munich but died one year later; or Ukrainian Yurii,Lahutyn who died two years after winning his 1976 gold medal in team handball.

At the press conferepce, Smoloskyp spokespersons also bemoaned the exclusion of Ukraine from the Olympics. Andriy Karkoc suggested that the Soviet Union be expelled from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and that national Olympic committees be established in the each of the Soviet republics. This, Mr. Karkoc said, "would allow Ukraine and the other countries that are part of the USSR their rightful place in the Olympic family. And it would end the killing of Olympians by government decree."

Source: "Smoloskyp, at Olympic press conference, accuses USSR of murdering its athletes," The Ukrainian Weekly, August 12, 1984. "Soviet sports medicine is killing Olympic medal winners," The Ukrainian Weekly, August 12, 1984.

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