5 wrote:
Yes, but they were not illegal then
Steroids were banned by the IOC in 1975, and first tested at the 1976 olympics. 11 athletes caught out of 786 steroid tests, only one of them a Track and Field athlete. I don't know how many of the 786 were done on athletics.
Testosterone only had a test developed in 1983. I should say, it was only employed in 1983; the ratio test was run on 1980 Olympians and 20% of those tested failed the 6:1 testosterone/epitesterone ratio test (a higher standard than the 4:1 used now). 16 gold medalists were among those "positive"...
Blood doping of course too, legal until 1986.
But don't worry. All our sporting heroes in black-and-white photos were squeaky clean. Even though it was legal, these heroes had the moral high ground of the 21st century, looking down on the techniques and chemicals that were status quo for everyone else. They were so clean they had no issue beating these unregulated dopers, and could rest assured that their legacy would go on untainted.