Set in Czechoslovakia in the 1980s, young and talented sprinter Anna is selected for the national team and starts training to qualify for the Olympic Games. As a part of the preparation she is placed in a secret "medical programme" where they begin dopeing her with anabolic steroids. Her performance improves, but after she collapses at training, she learns the truth. Anna decides to continue her training without the steroids even though her mother is worried that she won't be able to keep up with other athletes and might not qualify for the Olympics, which she sees as the only chance for her daughter to escape from behind the Iron Curtain. After Anna finishes in last place in the indoor race, her mother informs the coach that Anna is no longer using steroids. They decide to apply the steroids to Anna secretly, pretending it's nothing but doses of harmless vitamins.