CHEATING AT THE OLYMPICS: SHOULD HISTORY BE REWRITTEN?

(This is an unedited, uncorrected transcript.)

FORREST SAWYER, ABC NEWS (VO) In the '70s and '80s, they overwhelmed their
Olympic competition.

EAST GERMAN LEADER The miracle about which the whole world is talking is no
secret. It's called socialism.

FORREST SAWYER (VO) It wasn't a miracle but it was a secret. The East
German swim team was powered by banned performance enhancing drugs.

RICA REINISCH We didn't think about what they gave us every day. We just
accepted it.

FORREST SAWYER (VO) Now, US swimmers are claiming the gold medals weren't
won, they were stolen.

WENDY BOLGIOLI Most of my teammates would have medals had it not been for
the East German women on steroids.

FORREST SAWYER (VO) Tonight, cheating at the Olympics, should history be
rewritten?

ANNOUNCER From ABC News, this is Nightline. Substituting for Ted Koppel and
reporting from Washington, Forrest Sawyer.

FORREST SAWYER It is a little like pulling a thread on a sweater, tug on it
long enough and the sweater begins to unravel. So it is with the use of
performance enhancing drugs in the highly competitive world of
international athletics. For years there were complaints the extraordinary
successes of East German athletes were powered by steroids. Only now is
that claim drawing real international attention. The center of it all is a
criminal trial underway in Germany charging former coaches and doctors on
the women's swimming team with using steroids to further an East German
state goal, winning Olympic gold to prove communism's superiority, and
badly damaging the athletes' health along the way. It is suspected as many
as 10,000 athletes may have been involved in the widespread program and as
you might guess, some of the swimmers who came in behind the East Germans,
many of them American, want the record set straight. They want the gold
medals they say are rightly theirs. But it is not as simple as one country
gone wrong. A member of a Czechoslovakian anti-drug commission now claims
it happened there, too. Chinese women swimmers have been accused of using
banned drugs and there is a growing belief that international athletics
today means competing against rivals who are likely on steroids. Now, as
the tale unravels in Germany, the size of the problem is gradually and
disturbingly being revealed. So tonight, drugs and Olympic gold, who are
the real winners and who are the cheats? Here's ABC's Sheila MacVicar.

SHEILA MACVICAR, ABC NEWS (VO) This is what dreams are made of. To reach
the pinnacle of sports, to pit your talent, your strength against the
world's best, to compete for your country at the Olympic games, to win.

RICA REINISCH, FORMER EAST GERMAN SWIMMER It was overwhelming. I couldn't
grasp it. I was just so happy.

SHEILA MACVICAR (VO) Beginning in the 1970s, there was nobody better at
winning than the women who swam from East Germany. They came from nowhere
and suddenly again and again they were virtually unbeatable.

ULRIKE TAUBER, FORMER EAST GERMAN SWIMMER It was great. I had trained so
much and when I won it was like a confirmation, a very nice feeling.

SHEILA MACVICAR (VO) They were East Germany's wonder girls, medal bedecked
and honored, the pride of their nation. (on camera) The collapse of
communism brought an end to East Germany and its medal winning dynasty. But
in the thick of the cold war, the swimmers who ploughed up and down this
pool in what used to be East Berlin swam not just for the glory of sport.
For East Germany's leaders, their phenomenal successes were proof for all
of the supremacy of socialism. But they had a secret weapon. They called it
state plan 1425. (VO) It wasn't enough to find talented young athletes. The
East Germans wanted performance machines. In films kept secret for 20
years, they recorded their training techniques, electric shocks to make
muscles contract harder, bizarre tests to measure endurance and most
important, the little blue pills. Oral-Turinabol, a growth hormone that
builds muscles and makes women more like men, a steroid, a banned
substance. Rica Reinisch was one of the stars of that swimming dynasty,
setting world and Olympic records, winning three gold medals. She was just
15 when her coaches handed her steroids.

RICA REINISCH When I asked what they were, my coach said take it. It's good
for you. It will help your body to recover faster. We didn't think about
what they gave us every day. We just accepted it. That's the way it was.

SHEILA MACVICAR (VO) The steroids had a remarkable effect.

WENDY BOLGIOLI They were not great athletes, never had been, and all of a
sudden, a couple years before '76, they became incredible athletes, like
literally overnight.

SHEILA MACVICAR (VO) Wendy Bolglioli was co-captain of the US swim team at
the Olympics in Montreal in 1976. She watched as the East Germans took 11
of 13 gold medals, towering ahead of one of the best American women's teams
ever assembled.

WENDY BOLGIOLI They didn't get touched out by a tenth of a second. They got
touched out by a full body length. That doesn't happen in any sport and
certainly not swimming.

1ST OLYMPIC COMMENTATOR Their training programs go further, they go one
step beyond ours.

SHEILA MACVICAR (VO) Olympic commentators alternated between envy of the
East German system and hinting at the truth.

2ND OLYMPIC COMMENTATOR There have been dark rumors of excessive use of
steroids but none of these charges have been proved and the East Germans
march on.

SHEILA MACVICAR (VO) But the women who competed against the East Germans
had all the proof they needed. They heard their deep voices, saw the
muscles in their shoulders, their performance times and knew they were
cheating. When they spoke out no one wanted to listen.

WENDY BOLGIOLI I got hate mail. I got more mail that said, you know, you
are a sour grape American woman swimmer and you should be ashamed to be on
this Olympic team.

SHEILA MACVICAR (VO) Many suspected what the American women openly talked
about but the East German athletic machine remained unchallenged for years.
The secret was safe. In 1989 as the state crumbled, people stormed the
archives of the secret police, hoping to preserve the files that would
reveal the crimes of their government. (on camera) Amongst these thousands
of files, investigators found in meticulous detail the records of East
Germany's state run doping program. They recorded everything, the names of
thousands of athletes and the doses of steroids they took, the schemes
designed to fool international testing. There were even memos talking about
what to say to curious athletes who asked too many questions. (VO)
Investigators have spent years poring over the files, building a case
against the doctors and coaches who gave steroids to thousands of athletes
knowing they could have serious side effects. Rica Reinisch was one of the
first athletes to talk publicly.

RICA REINISCH I only found out what had happened to me when I had to be
admitted to the hospital with a chronic ovarian infection. The blood tests
showed that I had too many male hormones in my body. They warned me they
might have to remove my ovaries.

SHEILA MACVICAR (VO) What investigators learned has led to the criminal
prosecution of swim coaches and doctors now underway in Berlin. They are
charged with causing bodily harm, harm that includes cancers, infertility,
birth defects and liver disease.

RICA REINISCH It's absurd. It's inhumane. They were experimenting with us.

ULRIKE TAUBER I've talked to many people, I've asked many people would I
have won in 1976 without the drugs? They tell me that's not how I should
look at it.

WENDY BOLGIOLI I have a lot of sympathy for them because they had to. Many
of them had to. Many of them didn't know what they were but that doesn't
make it OK. That does not make it OK.

SHEILA MACVICAR (VO) If the East Germans cheated, what about those who did
not?

WENDY BOLGIOLI Most of my teammates would have medals had it not been for
the East German women on steroids, and that's just a fact.

SHEILA MACVICAR (VO) The US women's swim team left Montreal with only one
gold medal. Now, American swimmers and others say they deserved more, that
they should get the medals and the rightful place in Olympic history that
for all these years has been occupied by East Germany.

FORREST SAWYER Who should have those medals and should Olympic history be
rewritten? Part two of Sheila MacVicar's report in a moment.

(Commercial Break)

FORREST SAWYER It's not as easy as it sounds. So many years after the
event, how can you determine what really happened? How much evidence do you
need to take away an Olympic gold medal? Once again, ABC's Sheila MacVicar.

SHEILA MACVICAR (VO) It's 7:00 am Stanford swim coach Richard Quick is
putting his team through their paces. He's a veteran of four American
Olympic swim teams and for years he kept quiet about East German cheating.

RICHARD QUICK I didn't want to sound like I was a cry baby, but it's simply
not fair to the athletes and it hasn't been fair for a long, long time. For
the East Germans to still have Olympic gold medals that are recognized in
the history books as being legitimately achieved is just a lie.

SHEILA MACVICAR (VO) The President of the US Olympic Committee, the USOC,
Bill Hybl, says he's still not convinced.

BILL HYBL It's way too soon to tell if there has been cheating and if that
cheating will be proven.

WENDY BOLGIOLI I am entitled to the gold medal. I won it fair and square.

SHEILA MACVICAR (VO) Wendy Bolgioli took home a bronze medal in the 100
meter butterfly after she finished behind two East Germans. If the
International Olympic Committee, the IOC, were to punish the East Germans
for cheating, her medal would go from bronze to gold.

BILL HYBL And if it gets to the point where there's conclusive evidence
that comes out of these trials or other trials, you can count on the United
States Olympic Committee being very aggressive in our requests to the IOC
because ultimately the International Olympic Committee is in charge of the
medals.

SHEILA MACVICAR (VO) But the German criminal trials are based on the fact
that doping did take place. The only issue is whether the use of those
drugs caused the athletes criminal bodily harm.

RICHARD QUICK For us to take action only after we get absolute proof is
ridiculous.

WENDY BOLGIOLI USOC's comment by many of the USOC officials and IOC has
been, you know, if we point the finger, Wendy, you're going to make a
scandal. You point the finger and then people are going to be pointing the
finger back at us. So Wendy, it's better if you just keep your mouth shut.

SHEILA MACVICAR (VO) Doping hasn't stopped. Earlier this year, Chinese
swimmers were caught with performance enhancing drugs. They now dominate
the swimming world and like the East Germans, many coaches attribute their
success to drugs and blame the sport's governing bodies and the IOC for
failing to take firm action.

WENDY BOLGIOLI If they could make a stand and say you're all going to get
caught and you're all going to pay a consequence, right now there are no
consequences.

ULRIKE TAUBER There's no consistency in what they're doing or saying. It's
all a big farce. And I'm convinced that either you draw a line and make
sure that sports are clean or stop talking about it.

SHEILA MACVICAR (VO) Should the East German women be punished for what
their government obliged them to do? Athletes say the decisions made now at
the highest levels of sport about the past may determine how fair and level
the playing field will be for those who compete in the future. I'm Sheila
MacVicar for Nightline in Berlin.

FORREST SAWYER When we come back, the question of Olympic gold medals, past
and future. We'll talk to a senior Olympic official and to a US swimming
coach.

(Commercial Break)

FORREST SAWYER Joining us now from Lausanne, Switzerland, Francois Carrard
has been the director general of the International Olympic Committee for
the past nine years. John Leonard has been the executive director of the
American Swimming Coaches Association since 1985 and he joins us from our
Miami bureau. Mr Carrard, I understand the desire to be cautious but what
it all comes down to, it's a question of evidence and how much evidence do
you need before you're prepared to take away an Olympic gold medal?

FRANCOIS CARRARD, INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE (Lausanne, Switzerland)
Well, this is a very delicate matter indeed because when one speaks about
it right now it may seem simple to try to rewrite history, to reallocate
the ranking and medals but, indeed, we must be very cautious because
inasmuch as I deeply feel for the athletes who fairly resent having been
deprived of their ranking and medals, when you have to reinvestigate facts
which are sometimes very old, very old, you have to be sure about all the
facts, about all the allegations.

FORREST SAWYER I understand Mr Carrard, but I must tell you there seems to
be at least some difference between caution and reluctance. Now you have
volumes of documents that have been turned over that were in the East
German files showing specific athletes who were given doses, who was giving
the doses to them. You have a sports physician admitting today in the trial
that he did make available antibiotic steroids and you had the athletes
themselves, some of them who are saying, indeed, they did take steroids.
Now, why isn't that enough evidence?

FRANCOIS CARRARD Well, first of all, I have to recall that the
International Olympic Committee was the first organization in the world
that started fight against doping. In 1968 ...

FORREST SAWYER I thank you for that sir, but we've got a very little amount
of time. The question is why isn't that enough evidence?

FRANCOIS CARRARD Well, you must take each evidence for each case because if
one athlete got a gold medal 20 years ago, 20 years ago, sometimes more,
having tested and being found not positive at the time based on the
methods, restory, reestablishing the evidence of what exactly took place,
how was that athlete actually doped or not doped, what was the status of
the athlete which should take or not take the ranking of the athletes.
There are currently procedures going on in Germany. These are criminal
procedures and we must know exactly the facts and the evidence. It's very
easy to see it like that.

FORREST SAWYER All right, so you'd like to wait until after the trial.

FRANCOIS CARRARD Right.

FORREST SAWYER Mr Leonard, are you satisfied with that?

JOHN LEONARD, AMERICAN SWIMMING COACHES ASSOCIATION (Miami) Forrest, I
think that's absolutely bizarre. The reason the IOC needs to be cautious
about this is because this has nothing whatsoever to do with sports. It has
everything to do with the IOC's business relationships with its sponsors.
As I said earlier in the show, once you start to pull on the thread of
this, the entire garment of the Olympic fabric begins to come apart. And
what you begin to realize is the IOC itself has nothing to do with sport.
It has to do with raising money and putting money in the IOC's coffers and
the relationships it has with its major sponsors.

FORREST SAWYER Well, you go leaping pretty far there Mr Leonard. Why isn't
it fair for Mr Carrard to say I understand that you want to do this but
this is a person's life and this is a person's medal and we want this trial
to proceed and we want to have all the evidence before us before we decide?
Mr Leonard?

JOHN LEONARD The evidence has been there since 1989 in various forms in
depth, from individuals, from documents in the German state plan. All the
evidence is there. The evidence has been there. The IOC doesn't want to act
on this because they don't want the full extent of doping in Olympic
activities revealed.

FORREST SAWYER The fact is, Mr Carrard, that charge has been made more and
more.

FRANCOIS CARRARD I think that charge is absolutely, absolutely wrong. I
would just like to remind Mr Leonard, who is quoting 1989, that in 1988 who
did withdraw the gold medal for doping at the most famous event of the
Olympics in Seoul? Ben Johnson for doping. It was the International Olympic
Committee and nobody else. And only since, and this is no coincidence, one
speaks now of 1989, I have to repeat that from '68 to '88, 20 years, the
IOC was absolutely alone. And it is easy now to take it on the IOC and on
the organizations which are, indeed, fighting against doping. There are
many organizations which are still not fighting against doping,
professional organizations in the world, and these are the real causes why
doping has been such a plague and not these allegations which are totally
out of place about the IOC sponsoring. This is ridiculous.

FORREST SAWYER Mr Leonard?

JOHN LEONARD Forrest, a gentleman by the name of Prince Alexandre de
Merode, who happens to be the chairman of the medical committee of the IOC,
has recently been quoted thusly. What we are dealing with here is a certain
kind of public relations issue. The public must be persuaded that something
is being done. Prince Alexandre de Merode is a gentleman without a medical
degree who runs the IOC medical committee, who has been guilty of losing, I
repeat, losing positive doping results in each of the last three Olympic
games.

FORREST SAWYER We have only a few seconds left before our break. Is there
any way that you can safety Wendy Bolgioli and say that there will be
sufficient evidence for you to make a call one way or the other, either you
will take the medal away or you will not?

FRANCOIS CARRARD What we are going to do in specific cases when we see the
actual evidence, and we have nothing yet on our table, we get accusations
over the air like that. There is no specific request yet on our table. We
will look into the situation, we will look into the evidence and we will
see what we can do in specific individual cases when the facts are
established. But it's easy to accuse us over the air like that, but we have
not yet a request and certainly not from Mr Leonard, on our table.

FORREST SAWYER Mr Leonard, we have a few seconds left, as I said. If you
would look ahead with me. What should be done now and toward the future to
eliminate the problem of doping?

JOHN LEONARD The IOC needs to put its wallet where its words are. Right now
they've waged a tremendous PR campaign about being the only organization
involved in doping. Now they need to take a significant percentage of their
dollars and put it there and get ahead of the back room basement chemists
who right now are ruining sports.

FORREST SAWYER Do you believe, Mr Leonard, that they can do that?

JOHN LEONARD I believe they can, but I don't believe they really want to.

FORREST SAWYER Mr Carrard, what should be done now to make sure that ...

FRANCOIS CARRARD There are scores of millions of dollars which are invested
every year in the fight against doping. If Mr Leonard deliberately chooses
to ignore that, that's his problem.

JOHN LEONARD I'd like to know how an organization like the IOC can spend
$42 million and not be able to get ahead of a bunch of basement chemists.

FORREST SAWYER Mr Carrard, it's a final question. Is the IOC doing all that
can and should be done? Can you do more to prevent doping in a sport?

FRANCOIS CARRARD The fight against doping is so difficult you can, indeed,
always try and do more. That's one of the dramas about doping. It's easy to
accuse the IOC. The IOC is only competent at the games. In between the
games many other organizations should do their work as well. The difficulty
is that you are always chasing the cheaters, the cheaters are getting
smarter and we are fighting and fighting very hard, contrary to what Mr
Leonard thinks, to lead.

FORREST SAWYER Gentlemen, I thank you both for a spirited discussion and
I'm sure we'll be discussing this again. Thank you.

FRANCOIS CARRARD Thank you.

JOHN LEONARD Thank you.

FORREST SAWYER We'll be back in just a moment.

(Commercial Break)

FORREST SAWYER That is our report for tonight. For the latest overnight
developments, watch Good Morning America tomorrow morning. I'm Forrest
Sawyer in Washington. For all of us here at ABC News, good night.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski