Athletics-Dubious East German athletics records remain valid

BERLIN, May 5 (Reuters) The German Athletics Federation (DLV) today that records set by athletes who were part of a state-run doping programme in communist East Germany could not be invalidated unless the record holders requested it.

''Individual invalidation of records against the wishes of the record holders is not possible according to expert legal opinions,'' the DLV said in a statement.

Last year, the DLV announced it would reconsider the validity of the country's athletics records after sprinter Ines Geipel demanded that her named be deleted from the record books because she was forced into doping by East German authorities.

The DLV granted Geipel's request that she no longer be listed as a member of the German 100-meter relay team that set a German record in 1984 -- five years before the fall of the Berlin Wall brought an end to communism in Europe.

Geipel's name will be replaced with an asterisk, though the other three relay team members names will remain, the DLV said.

The federation urged all record holders whose performance was enhanced by doping to follow Geipel's example and voluntarily request that their records be deleted.

After Germany reunited in 1990, the government set up a commission to look into the work of East German scientists and found that most top East German athletes had been forced to partrticipate in doping programmes.

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