Tainted Blood: The Untold Story of the 1984 Olympic Blood Doping Scandal

Years before Lance Armstrong admitted to drug use, in a nearly forgotten incident, seven members of the United States cycling team blood doped at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles to earn the first US cycling medals since the 1912 Olympics. Although the cyclists achieved their goal of winning medals, the blood doping severely compromised the health of some of the team members. Adding to the danger, the transfusions were carried out in secret in a motel room using blood from relatives -- a process that could have proved fatal. Although the blood doping was not technically illegal at that time, once the scandal broke the athletes were disgraced. One athlete was so ashamed that he put his Olympic medal in a drawer for decades. Told through the voices of Olympic athletes, coaches, doctors, and sports historians, Tainted Blood explores the secret world where athletes push themselves to the precipice and are driven by coaches with their own Olympic-fueled dreams.