Christian Schenk, the East German who won the 1988 Olympic decathlon, said he took performance-enhancing drugs starting in 1985 and later suffered from depression and contemplated suicide in his new autobiography, according to German media.
“At first I denied every having taken banned substances,” Schenk said, according to German press agency DPA. “Then I settled for the legally softer answer, I had never knowingly doped. Both were lies.
“For me that was like reaching the next level, almost a tribute. Getting the pills meant I was on the squad and expected to perform well.