Olympic Scandals

Any massive newsworthy event can fall prey to a juicy scandal, and the Olympic games are no different. With thousands of athletes gathered in one place to compete for the same coveted prize, a gold medal, how could they escape a scandal? Here's a breakdown of some of the most devestating and memorable scandals in Olympic history.


1912 Summer Olympics
Jim Thorpe, a U.S. athlete was stripped of his gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon after it was learned he had played professional minor league baseball three years earlier. But, Hugo Wieslander, the silver medalist in the decathlon refused to accept the medals when they were offered to him. Thorpe eventually received his hard earned medals in 1983, 30 years after his death.

1932 Summer Olympics
Swedish athlete Bertil Sandstrom was demoted to last after winning the silver medal in equestrian dressage for clicking at his horse to encourage it. He claimed it was his saddle making a creaking noise. Right!

1936 Summer Olympics
American athlete Ernest Lee Jahnke, the son of a German immigrant, was expelled for encouraging athletes to boycott Hitler's Berlin Games.

German athlete Toni Merkens fouled Dutchman Arie van Vliet in the cycling sprint final, but instead of being disqualified he was merely fined 100 Reichsmarks, and allowed to keep the gold medal.

1968 Winter Olympics
Three East German competitiors in the women's luge were disqualified for heating their runners prior to each run, which is illegal.


1972 Summer Olympics
Who could forget the Munich massacre? In Munich, West Germany, members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage by the Palestinian terrorist gorup Black September, eleven of the Olympians were murdered.

The American basketball team refused to accept their silver medals after the game clock was reset incorrectly. With the score at 50-59 for the Americans, officials called a foul on team Russia, but the clock failed to stop in time, and was a second over. After the final buzzzer, the Americans celebrated their victory, but both teams were told they had to replay the final seconds of the game because of the clock malfunction. Instead of restoring the clock to the correct one second, the officials added two extra seconds, giving Russia enough time to score a layup and win 51-50.

1980 Summer Olympics
Only 80 nations participated in the summer games, after the U.S. led a boycott to protest the 1979 soviet invasion of Afghanistan. This was the lowest participating number of countries since 1956.

Pole vaulter Wladyslaw Kozakiewicz almost lost his gold medal after making an obscene gesture to the crowd.

1988 Summer Olympics
Ben Johnson, a Canadian sprinter was stripped of his gold medal in the 100 m sprin after he tested positive for stanozolol.


1994 Winter Olympics
Who could forget the Tonya Harding controversy? Harding's ex-husband Jeff Gillooly arranged an attack on Harding's rival Nancy Kerrigan before Olympic games. Kerrigan recovered and both women competed, Kerrigan took home a silver medal and Harding did very poorly, finishing eighth. She was later found to have been involved with the attack and was banned for life.

2000 Summer Olympics
Romanian Andreea Raducan, a 16-year-old gymnast became the first gymnast ever to be stripped of a medal after testing positive for pseudophedrine, a banned drug. Raducan was fighting off a cold, and the Romanian team doctor game her cold medicine pills. The doctor was expelled from the Games and suspended for four years. Raducan's team mate Simona Amanar, who had taken the silver medal, was eventually awarded the gold and Raducan was allowed to keep her other medals.

2002 Winter Olympics
International Olympic Committee members are forced ro resign after it's discovered they acepted "gifts" in return for voting for Salt Lake City to hold the games.

The gold medal is awarded to two pairs of figure skating teams after allegations of collusion among judges. Canadian pair David Pelletier and Jamie Sale and Russian pair Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze both take home the gold.

Three cross country skiers, Johann Muhlegg of Spain, Larissa Lazutina and Olga Danilova of Russia are disqualified after blood tests show the use of darbepoetin.

2004 Olympics
2004 was definitely full of scandal as too many Olympians were banned and disqualified for drug use.

David Munyasia a Kenyan boxer tested positive for cathine and was banned from competing.

Greek sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Ekaterini Thanou withdrew from their team after they failed to take drug tests Friday before the games began.

Myanmar's Nan Aye Khine tested positive for steroids after finishing fourth in the women's 48 kg weightlifting event and was disqualified.


A Canadian fan, Ron Bensimhon, was arrested and convicted of trespassing and distrubing public order after he mounted the springboard and belly flopped into the diving pool. He was sentenced to five months in prison and a 300 Euro fine.

Turkish weightlifter Sule Sahbaz tested positive for steroids a day before the Women's 75+kg event and was barred from competing.

The Ukraine was stripped of their women's quadruple sculls bronze medal after Olena Olefirenko tested positive for Ethamivan.

Bronze medalist leonidas Sampanis was stripped of his bronze medal in the 62 kg weightlifting competition and ejected from the games after texting positive for testosterone.

Robert Fazekas of Hungary was stripped of his gold medal and Olympic Record in the Men's discus after failing to produce a sufficiently large urine sample, then leaving the testing facility early.

Gold medalist Adrian Annus was stripped of his gold medal in the hammer after he was caught tampering with his urine sample.

Maria Luisa Calle, a colombian cyclist lost her bronze medal after testing positive for heptaminol, but had the decision appealed by the Colombian Olympic Committee, and in November of 2005 she received her medal due to a testing error.

Irish showjumper Cian O'Connor was stripped of his gold medal after his horse, Waterford Crystal, tested positive for fluphenazine and zuclophenthixol months after receiving the medal.

Guidelines for the games were published that speculated fans could be refused admission to events if they were wearing any clothing bearing prominent trademarks of non-sponsor companies. No incidents related to this rule were reported.


Marion Jones
Marion Jones was a successful American track and field athlete, but was recently stripped of all her medals dating back to September 2000 after admitting she had taken performance-enhancing drugs. She had won five medals in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and two medals in the 2001 Edmonton World Championships.

In October 2007, Jones admitted to taking steroids before the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics. She also admitted she had lied about her steroied use in statements to the press, sports agencies and two grand juries. Jones accepted a two-year suspension form track and field competition, and eventually announced her retirement on October 5, 2007. She then also lost any medals she had won after September 1, 2000.

Jones pled guilty to lying to federal agents in the steroid investigation in the U.S. District Court, and was sentenced to 6 months in jail. She began her sentence on March 7, 2008.