1976 Olympic gold medalist Andrea Pollack died last Wednesday. She was 57-years old after a battle with cancer.
Pollack represented East Germany at 2 Olympic Games, winning gold medals in the 200 fly and on the 400 medley relay in 1976; and another gold at the 1980 Moscow Games in the 400 medley relay. That was in addition to 3 silver medals (1976 400 free relay, 1976 100 fly, 1980 100 fly).
Pollack was one of several former East German swimmers who, in the late 1990s, publicly stated that they believe that their coaches and East German sports officials gave them banned anabolic steroids without telling them. The athletes testified in a trial of the former officials, who were accused of causing bodily harm to the athletes. Pollack and others say they were given unidentified packets of powder, beginning at age 13, and were told that they were ‘vitamins.’
Pollack was only 15 at the 1976 Olympic Games, and was one of a number of East German swimmers, mostly teenagers, that combined to win 11 out of 13 gold medals in the women’s meet that year.
Pollack was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1987.
Hey Braden, just a minor thing you might want to look into. But from my memory and research, I think that when she swam at the GDR Trials sometime around the first week of June 1976, it was just one month after her 15th birthday. So I think she was 15 at Montreal and 19 at Moscow. A very, very sad story. Another victim of the system who has died of cancer at perhaps too young of an age, and a cancer that perhaps like with Verena Rossberg, could not be irrefutably proven to have a direct link her intake of Oral Turinabol and those pre-race mandatory steroid booster injections given personally by the GDR head sports doctor.
She was born May 8, 1961, so yep, you’re right. Thanks.
I think East Germany was the DDR and west the GDR
DDR and GDR were the same. FDR or GDR was West Germany
DDR and GDR were the same sorry, Deutsch Demokratik Republik or German Democratic Republic depending on if said in German or English. Both meant East Germany. West Germany was GFR or DFR or something like that, German Federal Republic
FRG or BRD!
This is not unusual for a person to die of a cancer at 57 . The type of cancer is not made available at this point so ppl declaring a cause are anti scientific & superimlosing their beliefs on her whole life .
Perhaps she has written something down & would like it to known but besides the compensation case , she seemed to be happy to stay in the ex DDR sport environment . She worked as a physical therapist at the Olimpiastutzpunk Berlin She seemed to have become a mother at about 24 without any harm to the baby . In fact he went on to be an Olympian himself .
I hope she was given lots… Read more »
She was 13 years old when this abuse started. You can’t blame a child for adult’s decisions.
Are you certain with that statistic?
Adults aged 25-49 contribute around 5 in 100 (4%) of all cancer deaths, with slightly fewer deaths in males than females in this age group.[1-3] Adults aged 50-74 account for more than 4 in 10 (42%) of all cancer deaths, and elderly people aged 75+ account for more than half (54%), with slightly more deaths in males …
Cancer mortality by age | Cancer Research UK
https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/mortality/age
So very sad. No idea what was happening to her back then. Basically a lab rat for a trophy. May her family find peace in her passing.
Should watch the swimming documentary “the last gold” on Amazon
I was thinking more along the lines of offering my condolences to her family and friends.
Can also watch it for free on YouTube.com
A great documentary. I was impressed by how compassionate it was towards the erstwhile East German athletes despite being a USA Swimming production.
Sad to think the East German Swimming Evil Empire might have contributed other early demise.
Plausible deniability
This is really sad. I’m certain that East Germany’s doping machine caused her cancer and premature death. As an athlete who was affected by the Eastern Bloc doping system and watched my teammates (especially the women) cheated out of medals, I still feel for my fellow athletes. Andrea likely had no idea she was a pawn in a political game and was doped like a guineapig by unethical scientists. I feel for her family and friends. Let us stand together to end doping.
I met Andrea years ago and was taken with her strength and humility. She regretted deeply how the East German sports machine cheated on so many different levels. So sorry to read about her passing.