E. Germany Joins War on Doping

VIENNA — East Germany said today that it will join the United States and Soviet Union in a crackdown on doping, completing a “Big Three” partnership in the battle against drugs in sports.

The second-leading nation in the medals table at the Seoul Olympics and a sports power far out of proportion to its population, East Germany said uniting the world’s three top athletic nations was the best way to fight drugs. In a tentative agreement last month in Moscow, the U.S. and Soviet Olympic committees said they will set up ways of randomly testing each other’s athletes and will exchange research and information about doping.