EOne of the best-known doping educators in Germany is dead. Professor Werner Franke died on Monday evening at the age of 82. This was confirmed by his son Ulrich Franke on Tuesday of the German Press Agency.
According to him, the Heidelberg cell researcher and molecular biologist died of a cerebral hemorrhage. ARD doping expert Hajo Seppelt first reported on Franke’s death.
In the early 1990s, Franke and his wife Brigitte Berendonk played a key role in uncovering forced state doping in the GDR. By evaluating documents, he made a significant contribution to the book “Doping Documents. From Research to Fraud”, which his wife published in 1991.
Even after that, Franke remained a fighter against doping in top-class sport. “I’m driven and will always remain so,” he once said, explaining the reason for his thirst for enlightenment and aggressiveness. “I am clearly an educator for the public and an enemy of abusers.”
Among other things, the scientist described the anti-doping law that came into force in Germany in 2015 as “the worst thing that could be drafted”. He thought the National Anti-Doping Agency was a “toothless tiger”. In his opinion, NADA was not doing anything right because it was “not technically qualified”.
