FRANK SESNO, CNN ANCHOR: Twenty-five years ago, East German athletes dominated several Olympic events. Now, two former East German officials are on trial, charged with drugging those athletes without their knowledge. CNN Berlin bureau chief Chris Burns reports.</s>CHRIS BURNS, CNN BERLIN BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): His Olympic team won one gold medal after another for what was then communist East Germany. Manfred Ewald is now on trial for giving little blue pills to his athletes -- pills the athletes told were vitamins; pills that prosecutors say turned out to be anabolic steroids devised to escape detection by Olympic testing during the 1970s and '80s. Now Ewald and Manfred Hoeppner, former director of the East German Sports Medicine Service, are charged with conspiring to cause injury to 142 young athletes. The women suffered menstrual and other gynecological disorders, damage to internal organs, and developed male characteristics, such as deeper voices, excessive body hair and muscles. The defendants say they're innocent of the charges. The opening day of trial lasted only two hours and was adjourned until Friday. Prosecutors are racing against time to bring former East German sports officials to justice. The statute of limitations runs out in October, the 10th anniversary of German unification. So far, judges have handed out only fines and suspended sentences to other former officials, leading former athletes to be cynical about the prospects of this trial or of ever getting compensation. Chris Burns, CNN, Berlin.
Two Former East German Officials On Trial For Drugging Olympic Athletes Without Their Knowledge