Former Olympic shot put champion, Udo Beyer, admits to doping

Former Olympic shot put champion, Udo Beyer, admitted to doping in a recent documentary. (Tony Duffy/Getty Images)

Udo Beyer, shot put gold medalist at the 1976 Games, admitted to doping in a documentary, according to the Globe and Mail:

Beyer competed for East Germany, which had a systematic doping program for its top athletes, many of whom have said they were not aware they were being given performance-enhancing substances.

Beyer made the statements in the documentary, "The Lone Wolf," which was made by former diver, Sandra Kaudelka, and shown at the Berlin Film Festival this week. He said the decision was his and insisted that he won gold in'76 because he was "the best" and not because he had taken PEDs:

"I knew everything that was done with me. Things I did were my own decision. I gave myself the right to do it," he said. "There were things I refused and there were things I did. And there were no secret things in the tea."

"Everything else is hard work. And if you are not properly trained, you can swallow as many pills as you want ... you will never be a top athlete."