Top 10 Olympic Scandals

Everyone loves a scandal, and the ones associated with the Olympics may be the juiciest. The allure of an Olympic scandal is far too tempting. Maybe it’s because the games only happen once every four years, or maybe it’s the caliber of the athletes that make scandals so interesting. Either way, people love 'em, and the Olympics have yet to disappoint.

The games deliver some of the juiciest scandals, and we’ve gathered the top 10 in Olympic history (and it’s a long history!). Enjoy!


10. Time-Out Kills the US Basketball Team
It’s 1972 in Munich, and the U.S. is playing Russia for Olympic gold. The game ends, the US celebrates their 50-49 win, only to be stopped mid-celebration and told the clock has to be reset, due to a time-out not called. Obviously, angry, the clock is set to 00:50. Russia fails to score. Celebration begins again, only to be stopped one more time, and the teams told the clock would be reset to three seconds because of an error in re-starting the clock correctly. Are you serious? You can guess what happened next. Russia wins, 51-50, and U.S. has forever refused to accept their silver medal.
Image Source Stripes.com


9. Professional Athlete Stripped of Medals
Jim Thorpe an American athlete who won gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. He eventually lost his medals when it was discovered he was paid to play two seasons of minor league baseball before competing in the games (at the time, professional athletes were not allowed to compete in the Olympics). However, in 1982, Thorpe’s Olympic awards were reinstated.
Image source HomeEpix.net



8. Apparently, you can’t drink beer before your event! Who knew?
Hans-Gunnar Liljenwall was a Swedish modern pentathlete that competed in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Although his team won bronze, they were stripped of their medals when he became the first ever athlete to be disqualified at the Olympics for drug use. He apparently drank two beers before the pistol shooting part of the competition, to calm his nerves.


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7. Insulting the crowd, not a good idea!
The last thing you expect to see is an Olympic athlete, who is supposed to be composed, making obscene gestures at the crowd. But that’s just what Poland’s Wladyslaw Kozakiewicz did at the 1980 games in Moscow, after winning the gold medal in the pole vault. The crowd had booed and hissed him, in an attempt to distract him (because that works sometimes!). After claiming his medal, Kozakiewicz made a rude gesture towards the crowd, a sort of smug, take that (but much more rude). I wonder how many Polish children went to school imitating Kozakiewicz the next day?
Image Source Epr.pl


6. The Munich Massacre
More devastating and frightening than anything else, the world was shocked at the terrorist situation that unfolded at the 1972 games in Munich. The radical Palestinian group Black September took Israeli athletes hostage. There was a standoff with authorities and 17 people were left dead, 11 of them, Israelis.
Image Source Hfienberg.com


5. In fencing, it’s all about a smart offense
Fencer Boris Onishchenko was caught cheating using a doctored weapon during the 1976 games in Montreal. While fencing with Great Britain’s Jim Fox, it was discovered that Onishchenko’s weapon registered hits without the foil touching anything. Although crafty and smart, the athlete was obviously disqualified.




Image Source Chinaview.cn


4. You mean I can't attack someone before the Olympics to further my career? Whaaaat?
Who could forget the insanity that was Tonya Harding? After figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was attacked, and her knee seriously injured, Kerrigan was forced to withdraw from the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Still, Kerrigan recovered and was able to compete in the 1994 Olympics, where Harding placed eighth, and Kerrigan took home the silver medal. It was later discovered that Harding, had asked her ex-husband to attack Kerrigan, and take her out of the running.
Image Source ExtremeMortman.com


3. The point of being an Olympic runner, is to actually run
Fred Lorz would’ve taken home the gold medal in the marathon at the 1904 Olympic games, if the crowd had not ratted him out. It seemed that Lorz, who was exhausted after nine miles of the race, thought it was OK to hop into his manager’s car, and just take a breather... for the next 11 miles. After the vehicle broke down, he was forced to finish the race, on his feet. Didn’t anyone tell him running was the whole point of the event? He crossed the finish line first, obviously, but was not awarded a medal when the spectators brought his cheating to the attention of the administrators.
Image Source OlimpicGames.wikispaces.com


2. If you’re not good enough for the men’s events, why not become women?
Before the technology of mandatory drug and gender testing, there was the Press “sisters.” Noticeably large, and manly for being women. Irina and Tamara press, of Russia, won five Olympic gold medals and one silver at the 1960 games in Rome and the 1964 games in Tokyo. When they were accused of being men the pair coincidentally retired from sports.
Image Source CBC.ca


1. Knud Enemark Jensen
Doping and steroid use, although in the public spotlight now, has been a part of the Olympics for years. The first doping scandal actually took place at the 1960 games in Rome, when Danish cyclist Knud Enemark Jensen died after being given Roniacol before his race. The drug was meant to increase blood circulation.

Image Source Blomhoej.dk


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