Lost Teams print
East German Swimming Print, Vintage Swimming Poster, Retro East Germany Wall Art, Black and White Print
About the print
— THE STORY —
At Montreal 1976 the swimmers of East Germany won eleven events out of thirteen, with Kornelia Ender collecting four golds: a dominance so total it seemed inexplicable. It continued for more than a decade, Olympics after Olympics. The explanation came after the fall of the Wall, with the archives: a state programme of systematic doping, administered even to under-age athletes who did not know, with physical damage many paid for all their lives. The victories were real on the scoreboards and poisoned at the root: glory for the state, the bill sent to the girls' health. Today that medal count is read with two eyes: one admires the athletes, the other accuses the system. They were champions and victims at once. And history must say so every time, in full.
Print details
- Premium Matte paper, 200 gsm
- Europe: A3 (297 × 420 mm) — fits standard European frames
- US: 12 × 18 in (30.5 × 45.7 cm) — fits standard US frames
Shipping / frame info
- Printed and shipped from within your region
- FRAME NOT INCLUDED
There is a moment almost all of us lived through, and almost nobody photographed: an older person telling you about a match you never saw. Lost Teams tells the stories of teams and champions who no longer exist, and what they left behind.
Every print begins with a true fact: a number that looks like a misprint and is not.
Hang it. One day someone will ask you what it is, and you will know where to begin.