RNZ’s podcast The Detail: Why allegations of drug taking by the World Cup winning South African rugby side should not be ignored.

Newly uncovered archive documents have lifted the lid on doping in the New Zealand Olympic team at the 1972 Munich Games and the inaction of administrators when confronted with allegations of cheating.

The documents confirm persistent allegations that drug use infiltrated the upper ranks of New Zealand sport at a time when authorities were grappling with how to deal with the evolving steroid epidemic worldwide.

Official post-Games reports reveal both the chef de mission and several members of the medical staff reported the athletes to the New Zealand Olympic Committee (then the NZ Olympic and British Commonwealth Games Association) following the Munich Games.

One described an "embedded anabolic steroid culture" in the New Zealand weightlifting team, along with pockets of the track and field team.

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Rumours of steroid use followed discus thrower Robin Tait throughout his track and field career. Tait died in 1984 at the age of 43. Auckland Star historical photo archive.

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Discus thrower Robin Tait, now deceased, was the only individual named in the documents, with team management concerned by the influence his brazen drug use had on younger members of the team.

There is no suggestion any of New Zealand's medal winners in Munich were involved, but the documents, unearthed by researchers Dr Bruce Hamilton and Greg Ryan, challenge the narrative that New Zealand has a proud tradition as a clean sporting nation.

In a paper entitled 'Drugs, Denial and Deflection: 1972, The Year New Zealand Sport Confronted Doping' which was published in the International Journal of the History of Sport last month, Hamilton examines the response of sports administrators when presented with clear evidence of doping.

Hamilton, the medical lead for the NZOC, discovered the NZOC at best took a "neutral stance", referring the allegations back to the individual sports bodies, which took the approach of aggressively denying the allegations. In the paper, the researchers conclude New Zealand does not have a perfect track record when it comes to dealing with anti-doping issues, and authorities "missed an opportunity to establish New Zealand-centric ethical and health-based norms aligned to a drug-free sporting environment".

While anti-doping measures were in place for the 1972 Games, steroids were, incongruously, not on the prohibited list despite their performance-enhancing qualities being widely known. This was because reliable detection methods had yet to be developed for steroids. However, the International Olympic Committee had previously stated that it considered the use of anabolic steroids constituted doping.

SUPPLIED/NZOC NZOC medical lead Dr Bruce Hamilton uncovered explosive allegations of doping in the Kiwi team at the Munich Olympics in archival documents.

In his official post-Games medical report, team doctor Dr Tom Anderson suggested that while the legality of steroids was "open to question" their use did "break the spirit, if not the letter of the law". He asserted the athletes that were observed using steroids in Munich should be banned from future New Zealand teams.

The statements back up well-established folk tales about Tait that have circulated among the New Zealand sports community for decades. Journalist and broadcaster Phil Gifford has previously written about the track and field legend's complex personality.

Hamilton says he was broadly aware of allegations of drug use in New Zealand sport in the past. He says the purpose of digging into this sketchy history was not to tarnish the legacy of the team, or impugn individual reputations, but to understand the challenges in stamping it out.

"The real driver for me is, let's have a good hard look at the mistakes that have been made, and see what has changed and how we measure up now in comparison," says Hamilton, who will oversee the New Zealand team's medical programme at this year's Tokyo Olympics.

"It was a really formative time. Worldwide, the use of anabolic steroids was fairly widespread, and New Zealand wasn't free of that influence, and that's what I found really interesting. There were things in terms of the broader principles of anti-doping - in particular that real ethics-based approach - that were not being considered, because they weren't ready for that."

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Robin Tait was the flagbearer for New Zealand at the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games. Auckland Star historical photo archive.

NZOC spokeswoman Ashley Abbott says Hamilton's research is an important reminder of the organisation's role in taking a lead on ethical issues.

"Doping has been a really big issue for a long time and this paper shows that no country is immune from those issues.

"Today, we're known in the Olympic movement for having a strong sense of integrity and it just reminds us we have to continue to stand up for things and lead by example, even when it means making some really tough decisions."