Claus Clausnitzer

In 1976 Claus Clausnitzer was a member of the National Olympic Committee of the GDR and was added to the list of participants as a replacement for a fencer, who was injured, in order to be able to join the GDR team at the Opening Ceremony, which otherwise would not have been possible.

Clausnitzer was the former head of the control laboratory in Kreischa and thus a doping expert. Although he was one of the persons responsible for the GDR doping system, he was appointed as a member of the IOC’s sub-commission on doping and biochemistry of sport. In 1972 he wrote an article about “Influenceability in Anti-Doping Control”. For the Stasi (Ministry for State Security) he worked as IM, an unofficial collaborator or “Meschke”. In 1984, he received his PhD in chemistry. After the collapse of the GDR system, he was one of the officials who confirmed the use of doping substances by successful athletes, including multiple gold medalist Kristin Otto.