Birgit Dressel
Template:Short description Birgit Dressel (May 4, 1960, in Bremen – April 10, 1987, in Mainz) was a West German heptathlete. Dressel participated in the 1984 Olympic heptathlon, where she ended ninth,[1] and was fourth in the 1986 European Championships. She died at age 26 due to sudden multiple organ failure, which was at least partly triggered by long-term steroid abuse.[2][3]
Death
According to Time magazine, Dressel had a very laissez-faire attitude about medication: she stocked large amounts of medicines, and when her mother asked her about it, she said: "These are all harmless drugs. All athletes take them. It's really nothing special."[4] In April 1987, Dressel's condition rapidly declined. She had taken over 100 medications in the last few months, among them steroids.[2] After taking additional medication to relieve back pain, her body went into allergic-toxic shock on April 8, causing rapid multiple organ failure. Due to consistent overmedication, her nerves were so damaged that painkillers were useless.[2] After three days of agony, Dressel died on April 10. An autopsy revealed traces of 101 different medications in her body.[5][6]
Aftermath
According to the German Olympic Sports Association (DOSB), doping was common in the West German athletes of the 1980s.[3] After her death, a 120-page report was filed where Dressel's death has been officially deemed "due to unknown reasons",[5] but German doping analyst Werner Franke said: <templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />
The fatal incident that killed Birgit Dressel was undoubtedly triggered by anabolic doping.[5]
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". According to the German Olympic Sports Association (DOSB), many West German athletes "in fear flushed their medications down the toilet",[3] but soon many reverted to the old ways of doping.[3] "Helpful" was also the general laissez-faire attitude in West German sports with doping, as the DOSB remarked that neither in sports nor in the legal branch there was any drive to further investigate this death; doping was even called "therapeutic" by some.[3]
References
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- ↑ Olympic Games, Los Angeles, July-August 1984, Women's heptathlon
- ↑ a b c Zum Gedenken an den frühen Tod einer Aktivensprecherin im adh Template:Webarchive
- ↑ a b c d e Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ "An Athlete Dying Young". Time. October 10, 1988.
- ↑ a b c Vor 20 Jahren: Der "Fall Dressel" erschüttert den SportScript error: No such module "Unsubst".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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External links
- Report about Dressel's death Template:In lang
- SWR on Dressel's deathScript error: No such module "Unsubst". Template:In lang
- The German Olympics Sports Association (DOSB) on Dressel'S deathScript error: No such module "Unsubst". Template:In lang
- Pages with script errors
- 1960 births
- 1987 deaths
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics
- Olympic athletes for West Germany
- German heptathletes
- Doping cases in athletics
- Sportspeople from Bremen (city)
- Athletes from Bremen (state)
- West German Athletics Championships winners
- 20th-century German sportswomen