When it comes to the dark side of elite sports, no one in cycling can fool us. We’re all too familiar with EPO abuse, refrigerators full of blood bags, and remorseful confessions. You’d think we’d be immune to the depths of sports corruption by now. But then Hajo Seppelt comes along and lowers the bar for the doping quagmire yet another notch.

Seppelt is no stranger to exposing doping. For years, the ARD reporter has been one of the most tenacious journalists when it comes to draining the swamp behind the glittering facade of medals. Numerous scandals would never have come to light without him and his investigative team. With his latest work, however, he’s now tackling an issue that’s on an entirely different level. “Geheimsache Doping: Kinder” is about children who are being doped and the lifelong devastation that results.

Six years of research, over 50 countries, shattered childhood dreams

For six years, the ARD doping editorial team conducted research in more than 50 countries. The result is a six-part documentary series that gets under your skin. It tells of shattered childhood dreams, of unscrupulous masterminds and profiteers who view young bodies as mere investment assets, and of officials who look the other way with striking consistency.

Using examples of victims from baseball, track and field, and cycling, the series shows just how alarmingly early the abuse of performance-enhancing drugs begins on the path to elite sports. The images from the baseball academies in the Dominican Republic are particularly hard to stomach: boys who are fattened up and injected like livestock in pursuit of the big dream of a professional contract in the U.S. And we cyclists aren’t spared either. The tragic story of former Canadian road cyclist Geneviève Jeanson is meticulously recounted in the series: an abyss of doping and violence lurking behind the glorious star of one of the most talented female cyclists of her time.

Between Education and Self-Promotion

Unfortunately, all the stories portrayed took place many years ago, and the film largely lacks a direct connection to today’s elite sports. You peer into a deep abyss, but after six episodes, you’re not quite sure how much of it is historical baggage and how much is the bitter reality of the present.

At the same time, the film has a noticeable whiff of self-promotion. A big premiere show, Hajo Seppelt repeatedly taking center stage, or the simultaneous release of the book accompanying the series: investigative journalism suddenly feels like a carefully orchestrated marketing product for its own sake.

Nevertheless: The research is compelling, the abuses are real, and the federations’ turning a blind eye is scandalous. The bottom line is that “Geheimsache Doping: Kinder” is absolutely worth watching for anyone who wants an unvarnished look behind the scenes of international elite sports. At the same time, it’s important to realize that while these extreme abuses are real, they do not represent the full picture of elite sports.

All six episodes are now available on demand in the ARD media library.
ardmediathek.de

However, anyone in Switzerland who wants to watch the series will need a little digital help first: without VPN software, the screen will remain black due to geoblocking.