The Olympics are one of the most massive and large-scale sporting events on the planet. It is not surprising that scandals, terrorist attacks and various precedents are integral parts of this event. And it’s not always a matter of mass participation, because in reality, places where people gather are carefully guarded by specialized bodies and detachments, since high-ranking personalities and politicians often arrive. We just don’t forget that scandals are, albeit dark, but still very powerful PR, designed to advertise and perpetuate this or that event in history.
The most frequent precedents of the Olympic Games are related to doping disqualifications, age, gender or national restrictions, issues of money and corruption. And sometimes, during large-scale projects, militant attacks and assassination attempts on important people are planned.
In today’s selection, we have prepared 10 of the most interesting and high-profile cases that took place at the Olympics over the long history of their existence.
Basketball Championship
The story begins back in 1972, when summer games a basketball championship was held. The United States at that time opposed the USSR team in the fight for gold. Just a couple of seconds before the end of the game, the Americans led by 3 points. The cunning coaches of the Soviet team called a timeout in the last seconds, but after a strange break the basketball players still did not have time to score. Of course, the Americans decided that victory was on their side. But it turned out that the clock was set incorrectly, so the match time was extended, and then Soviet basketball players they pushed hard and won by just a point. The Americans' annoyance was so great that they even refused silver and called the results of the game rigged.
Black September
During the same summer Olympics, athletes from Israel were captured by terrorists from a Palestinian group with the mysterious code “Black September”. Eleven people died on that fateful day, including coaches, athletes and even a local police officer. The Israeli Prime Minister ordered the Defense Committee to carefully study the case, find and punish those responsible. According to rumors, some of the terrorists are still walking free.
Underage gymnasts
On summer olympiad In the remarkable year 2000, a young gymnast from China won a well-deserved bronze. After the fact, the girl was deprived of her medal 10 years later, as it turned out that at the time of the competition she was only 14 years old, when the allowed age was 16. Interestingly, there were often precedents with age in China. Therefore, at the 2008 Olympics, young Chinese gymnasts, due to their childish appearance, already raised doubts among the Committee and were allowed to participate only after presenting documents confirming they were 16 years old.
Athletes with superhuman strength
There was a rumor among fans and management that during the Cold War, the Germans were going to create a race of super athletes, for which they raised athletes on doping and steroids. The theory was confirmed when the case of gold medalist Kroeger was examined. Subsequently, the girl admitted that due to doping, she developed depression, experienced mood swings and other negative effects. This led to the fact that in the nineties a young girl looked like a strong man, as a result of which she even had to change her gender. After the procedures, the newly-made man took the name Andreas. He continues to blame the leadership of the GDR for conducting their dangerous experiments on him.
Fake tickets
A British magazine published news that the Olympic Committee has allowed a markup on tickets of up to 20%. This is enough for the organizers to raise funds for the running costs of the Olympiad. The restriction does not prevent fraudulent speculation businesses from flourishing - there is a black market for tickets. According to news reports, the Serbian government has put more than 1,500 counterfeit tickets on sale with the promise that the necessary passports will also be included with the purchase. The committee undertook to investigate this event.
Cheating scoreboard
“Unsportsmanlike conduct” received a new color in 1976 thanks to the fencer from the USSR Bora Onishchenko. The guy fixed the sword in a special device, which forced the light on the referee’s device (which records hits) to blink every time the “inventor” felt like it. It was enough to simply press the secret button of the connected device. The cunning device failed its creator when it reacted at the moment of a clear miss on the target. That year, not only Boris was disqualified, but also other members of the USSR team. By decision of the Soviet committee, Onishchenko was deprived of his previously received titles and medals and disqualified for life. Former athlete After the precedent, he retired and did not communicate with journalists.
Explosion in 1996 (version – political order)
In midsummer, an explosion occurred at the Olympics in Atlanta, which injured 111 people and killed two. As the investigation progressed, two versions were identified, but in the end they blamed the American Rudolf, who had previously been seen in similar terrorist attacks (blowing up a medical facility and a bar for homosexuals). The man went on the run, but was found and detained 5 years later. Eric Rudolph is currently in prison, serving a life sentence without the chance of amnesty or pardon. According to rumors, the man did not come up with the idea of organizing the explosion himself, but received an order from political figures.
Corruption scandal
Corruption at the Olympics is a favorite moment for the public to savor. One of the famous cases was recorded in 2002 at the Winter Olympics. Then the members of the Committee were accused of bribery - they allegedly received a kickback from the owners of the Salt Lake City team right before the draw for the Olympic venues. During the scandal, 10 people were punished and another 10 were fired. Charges of corruption and fraud were brought against Johnson and Welch, representatives of the committee from Salt Lake City. The latter were later acquitted, and the games were held in this town.
Epilepsy from animated logo
Six years ago, a new memorable event happened at the Summer Games. An animated version of the event’s logo was posted online, after which twelve epileptic seizures were recorded in a few hours. The committee was forced to remove the animated logo from the official website. In the end, charges were brought not against the logo developers, but against the would-be animators.
Fraud of judges
Judicial vicissitudes are also not uncommon for Olympiads. For example, in 2002, a pair of skaters from Russia fell during their performance, but still beat the Canadians and received gold for the short program. The athletes’ victory was disputed, since the judges should have punished the fall with scores. But the board denied any violations, after which it was accused of conspiracy, and the gold was handed over to the Canadians. After the scandal, the discipline assessment system " figure skating» on Olympic performances revised.
These are the sad, curious or outrageous cases that were recorded during the world sporting events, but this list is far from complete. It turns out that not many athletes sincerely consider winning the Olympics to be their life’s work, for which they are willing to work hard and sacrifice their leisure time.
Of course, during the Olympic Games, even people who are extremely far from sports (like me :)) still worry about their country’s national team. They rejoice in victories and experience defeats.
I propose to take a break from the not-so-successful start of the Olympics for Russia, turn your gaze to history and remember the most famous scandals associated with the Olympic Games. And it turns out there were a lot of them, these scandals.
No. 1. Tragedy at the Munich Olympics
Without a doubt, the tragedy that occurred during the Olympics in 1972 should be put in first place in this unspoken hit parade. On September 5, 1972, terrorists belonging to the Black September organization broke into the residence of the Israeli delegation, took 9 delegation members hostage and shot 2 Israelis on the spot. The terrorists demanded the immediate release of all members of the Palestine Liberation Organization serving their sentences in Israeli prisons and 2 German terrorists and 16 prisoners who were at that time in European prisons. However, the Israeli government refused to comply with such demands, and the German police decided to carry out an operation to free the hostages. The police operation was extremely unsuccessful and, as a result, all the hostages died. And yet, despite the demands of the world community, the IOC did not cancel the Olympic competitions, which have not yet ended. Let us recall that subsequently the Israeli special services discovered and destroyed all the terrorists who participated in the hostage-taking. Undoubtedly, this tragedy is the darkest page in the history of all the Olympics, to this day.
No. 2. Boycott of the Olympics in Moscow and Los Angeles
The story of the boycott of two Olympics is probably familiar to everyone. Two Olympics in a row, 1980 and 1984, turned out to be incomplete for the reason that many of the world's leading athletes did not come to participate in these games due to political decisions of the administration of their countries. Thus, the Olympics in Moscow was boycotted by several dozen countries, including the USA, Germany and Japan. So the world community protested against the introduction Soviet troops to Afghanistan. In response to this, not a single Soviet athlete flew to the 1984 Olympics, which was held in Los Angeles. The official reason for this boycott was the statement that Soviet Union fears for the safety of his delegation.
No. 3. The Indians will never win the Olympics!
The Olympics, held in 1920, turned out to be almost the most scandalous in the history of the Olympics. all the protests that were filed at those Games were published after the end of the competition in a separate book of 56 (!) sheets. However, this is not the most loud scandal of that time. It was all about the gold medals won by the American Indian athlete Jim Thorpe. The two-time Olympic champion became a hero and a favorite of the public during the competition. However, all the fuss flared up after the end of the Olympic Games in the USA. The fact is that in his homeland, in the USA, one of the high-ranking officials was not satisfied with an Indian as an Olympic champion and the USA itself (!) demanded that the Olympic awards be taken away from the athlete of their country. Pointing out as the main evidence against Thorpe the fact that the athlete had already become professional athlete and therefore cannot be an Olympic champion, because only amateurs, not professionals, participate in the Olympics. As a result, two olympic medals, and the athlete’s career was trampled upon.
No. 4. We win the marathon in...a car!
Perhaps the most curious incident occurred a century ago, at the dawn of the revival of the Olympics, at the 1904 Olympics. The most popular view The sport then, and even now, was the marathon, and that is why close attention was focused on the marathon participants. In 1904, the American athlete Fred Lortz was the first to reach the finish line, finishing with a large lead over the other athletes. Subsequently, however, it turned out that Lortz, who was tired about a third of the way, was given a lift by a fan... in his car almost to the finish line. So Lorz, having traveled a third of the way by car, became an Olympic champion. However, Lortz failed to hide the fact that he had traveled by car and the medal was given to another American, Thomas Hicks. However, Hicks was also deprived of his Olympic medal because there were witnesses to the fact that his coach, about 10 km after the start, gave Hicks an injection so that the marathon runner could reach the finish line. The 1904 Olympics was also remembered for the fact that athletes with white skin competed separately from athletes of “colored” races. This fact greatly angered Pierre de Coubertin.
No. 5. Hitler's Olympics
One of the most unpleasant Olympics can easily be called the 1936 Olympics, which was held in Berlin. The German media, long before the start of the Olympics, began to promote the idea of “racial purity” and prohibit access to the Olympics for black athletes and those who did not meet the requirements for the purity of the Aryan race. Although such a campaign did not proceed further and black athletes still participated in competitions, scandals related to ethnic issues could not be avoided. For example, the judges disqualified Paul Martin, a Swiss athlete, and took away his gold medal in the 800-meter race because Paul was planning to marry a Jewish woman.
No. 6. Three seconds that are still being debated
The 1972 Olympics was remembered by many for the still incomprehensible situation at the final basketball match. Let us remind you that in the finals two teams met - the national teams of the USA and the USSR. Due to the fact that the Soviet athletes violated the rules 3 seconds before the end of the match, the Americans won with a score of 50:49. Modestas Paulauskas, a Soviet athlete, had just put the ball into play when the final siren immediately sounded. Of course, the Americans began to celebrate their victory, but Soviet observers drew the judges’ attention to an obvious violation of the rules, because the time counter turned on not at the moment of reception, but at the moment of transmission. Naturally, the referees admitted their mistake and gave the Soviet athletes the opportunity to repeat putting the ball into play, but at that moment the electronic scoreboard that kept track of the time for the match broke down. By the way, failure of such a scoreboard is an extremely rare occurrence, especially during a match of this level. After such an unexpected time-out, Ivan Edeshko did not lose his head and threw the ball across the entire court directly into the hands of Alexander Belov. Belov did not miss and scored another goal, so the final score became 51:50 in favor of the USSR and thus, the US basketball team did not become the Olympic champion for the first time in history. The Americans demanded that Belov's throw not be counted, saying that he threw after the end of the game, but the judges upheld the result. As a result, the offended Americans did not show up for the awards ceremony and to this day are convinced that Soviet athletes stole their gold medals.
No. 7. Terrorists in Atlanta
The recent Olympics, held in the American city of Atlanta in 1996, were perhaps the most unsuccessful in the entire history of the Olympics from the point of view of organization. The unsatisfactory organization included failures in transport, incompetence of volunteers, and failures in information systems. However, it was not these events that left a bad taste in the world. On July 27, 1996, more than a hundred people were injured and one person died due to a bomb explosion in Olympic Park Atlanta. For the first time in history, IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch did not utter the now traditional phrase “These games have become the best in history” at the closing of this Olympics.
No. 8. Olympic flag stolen
The Olympic flag (the famous white canvas with rings) appeared for the first time only in 1920 at the Olympics, which took place in Antwerp. However, after it was raised in a solemn atmosphere at the opening ceremony, the banner disappeared... the organizer hastily had to look for a new canvas, which was re-raised over the main stadium. And only after a full 80 (!) years, the mystery of the disappearance of the Olympic moisture was revealed. It turned out that the flag was stolen...by bronze diving champion, American Hal Haig Priste. Hal admitted to his crime only in 1997 and three years later, at the age of 103, he handed the flag to the President of the IOC, Juan Antonio Samaranch, with the words “I have no use for it anymore.”
No. 9. Olympics with the most a large number refereeing errors
The 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, although not boycotted, turned out to be no less scandalous. This Olympics has gone down in the history of the Olympics no less than the Olympics of refereeing errors. Almost every competition at this Olympics was marred by miscalculations of the organizers and mistakes of the judges. For example, in the 200 meter race, the Olympic champion ran 2 meters less than the bronze medalist because treadmill The path he was running along was built 2 meters shorter than the other paths. Athletes competing in the 3 km race had to run one more lap because the judge left the stadium during the race. There are many such examples.
No. 10. The first high-profile doping scandal
Doping scandals are a common phenomenon in our time; at every more or less significant sports competition, athletes found to be doping are disqualified in batches. Although relatively recently, any such case could lead to a loud sensation. Thus, the disqualification of Ben Johnson still remains the loudest in history. The Canadian runner shocked the world with his amazing time of 9.79 seconds at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. However, after just two days, he was stripped of his Olympic medal after doping was discovered in his blood. Johnson insisted that this was a mistake, but after a short period of time he was again caught using illegal drugs and was disqualified for life.
Accusing our athletes and coaches of violation anti-doping rules- attack on Russian biathlon. Vice-President of the Russian Biathlon Union (RUB) Sergei Chepikov told Izvestia about this. The provocation may prevent the restoration of the RBU's rights; this issue will be considered on December 15 at a meeting of the IBU Executive Committee. Russian biathletes deny their involvement in the doping scandal and are ready to assist Austrian law enforcement agencies who are conducting the investigation. Experts do not rule out that the case may have political overtones and call on the leadership of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to intervene in the situation.
Medal in spite of
Despite the actions of the Austrian police, the Russian team will continue to perform at international tournaments. At the second stage of the World Cup in Hochfilzen, our team has already won its first medal: Ekaterina Yurlova-Percht received bronze in the sprint. This is the first podium for Russian biathletes in the last two years: the previous time - on December 17, 2016 - Tatyana Akimova finished in the prizes.
Katya is a great fellow,” Sergei Chepikov, vice-president of the RBU, told Izvestia. “She showed character and was able to win a medal. Irina Starykh also deserves praise, she ran an excellent race (ninth place). Our girls showed that they cannot be broken.
According to Sergei Chepikov, “everyone in the SBR is sure that the charges of the Austrian prosecutor’s office are far-fetched.” He recalled that this Saturday, December 15, a meeting of the IBU Executive Committee will be held, at which they will consider the issue of restoring the rights of the Russian Biathlon Union.
Most likely, this attack is aimed at our biathlon in anticipation of the IBU Executive Committee. It is clear that our chances of fully returning to the biathlon family are greatly reduced,” noted the RBU vice-president.
On Wednesday evening, Austrian police showed up at the Russian national team and presented a list of ten athletes and coaches whom they intend to interrogate in connection with an anti-doping rule violation at the World Championships in Hochfilzen in February 2017. Doping is a criminal offense in Austria, with a maximum penalty of three years in prison. That's why law enforcement is involved.
Rodchenkov's trace
According to media reports, Austrian police began an investigation into the Russians after a tip from Jim Walden, the lawyer for WADA whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov.
Among the suspects are Olympic champion Anton Shipulin, one of the best snipers in world biathlon Alexey Volkov, Irina Starykh and Alexander Loginov, who served their disqualification, and Sochi 2014 bronze medalist Evgeny Garanichev. Also on the list is former head coach national team Alexander Kasperovich, doctors and massage therapists of the team Evgeny Shutov, Artem Kryntsilov, Alexander Selyavkin and Dmitry Topychkanov.
Over the past period, neither the organizers of the 2017 World Championship in Hochfilzen nor the relevant anti-doping services have made any claims against the Russians, Russian Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov told Izvestia.
All this time, our athletes flawlessly passed the necessary doping control procedures. Now the Biathlon Union, the Ministry of Sports, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other interested organizations are clarifying the circumstances of the case,” he said.
Alexander Kasperovich said that he was ready to fly to Hochfilzen.
The charges relate only to the 2017 World Cup. Last December, already in the new season, the Austrian Hochfilzen hosted the World Cup stage - Shipulin, Loginov, and Garanichev were there. And the Austrian police did not have any questions for the Russian team. Russian biathletes passed doping tests without problems.
The International Biathlon Union (IBU) confirmed the start of a doping investigation against the Russian national team. It is handled by the Central Prosecutor's Office for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption of Austria. Russian biathlon team coach Anatoly Khovantsev did not rule out that national team may be temporarily suspended from competition.
Political attack
According to Olympic champion and State Duma deputy Svetlana Zhurova, there is a visible political motive in this case.
It is important to understand that the initiator of this scandal, whoever he was, chose the “right” country, Svetlana Zhurova told Izvestia. - Austrian legislation allows athletes to be summoned for questioning, regardless of what WADA representatives think about this. This is a very tricky approach. Our athletes are hinted that it is better for them not to travel to those countries where there are strict penalties for doping - “otherwise we will call you in for questioning at night, we will spoil your nerves just before the start.” This foul play towards our athletes.
Svetlana Zhurova believes that WADA representatives should intervene in the situation.
Of course, WADA should be outraged at the actions of the Austrian police, I am sure Olympic champion. - After all, this is a blow not only to our athletes, but also to generally accepted anti-doping rules. Firstly, police or representatives of the prosecutor’s office may interpret them incorrectly; this requires specialized specialists. Secondly, all interrogations must take place by subpoena during the out-of-competition period, and not during the World Cup or other international competitions.
The team leader, 2017 World Cup winner Alexander Loginov spoke about the first details of the case. According to him, the accusations, which the athlete categorically denied, are related to possible fraud with blood transfusions. Following Loginov's post in social networks Anton Shipulin also wrote. The most titled Russian biathlete last decade called what was happening a “witch hunt” and said that this situation undermines his confidence not only in the anti-doping system, but also in biathlon as a whole.
If our athletes are really accused of fraud with blood transfusions, then this is simply ridiculous,” he told Izvestia. three-time champion biathlon world, silver medalist Olympic Games 2006 in Turin Pavel Rostovtsev. - With the introduction of [biological] blood passports for athletes, such manipulations are easily caught, they have become impossible.
In this situation, Austrian law enforcement agencies must present irrefutable evidence, believes two-time Olympic hockey champion and State Duma deputy Vyacheslav Fetisov.
Everyone's tired of doping scandals“We need to somehow end this topic,” he told Izvestia. - The new head of our sport, Pavel Kolobkov, I hope he understands how to do this. We will fight, because if the Austrian police do not have irrefutable evidence, then this is slander. We will defend ourselves.
At the 2017 World Championships in Hochfilzen, the Russian team won two medals. In addition to bronze in mixed relay our team won gold in the men's relay. That victory was the most striking event for Russian biathlon over the past few years.
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0 August 4, 2016, 20:00Olympics in Moscow, 1980
Any Olympics is not only a spectacular show, the joy of victories and dramatic defeats, but also constant scandals. It’s not surprising, since big money, political interests, and the personal ambitions of the world’s best athletes are involved here. Moreover, it often happens that even before the start of the next Olympic Games, scandals associated with them begin. The most recent example is, of course, the games in Rio: the opening ceremony is only tomorrow, and we have been discussing our athletes (and) for the competition for several weeks and arguing about whether the Russian tricolor is readable on the uniform of the American team.
the site recalls what high-profile scandals marked the Olympic Games of past years. We don’t know whether the ancient Greeks fought with the judges or whether they were caught using inappropriate substances, but if you look into the not-so-recent Olympic past, there are many similar episodes. So, let’s remember all the most sensational and scandalous things.
1920: stolen olympic flag
Let's start with a rather unusual story: in 1920, during the Olympics in Antwerp, the Olympic flag was stolen - it was returned only 80 years later. The attacker turned out to be one of the athletes - American Hal High Priest, who made money from those games bronze medal on diving. Before the closing ceremony, the athlete and his teammate decided to take away... the Olympic flag as a souvenir.
Everything was revealed only in 2000, when Priest, apparently feeling remorse throughout all these years, returned his “souvenir” to the Chairman of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch. By that time, it must be said, the kidnapper was already 103 years old, and the flag, according to him, had been lying in his suitcase at home all this time.
1972: hostage crisis in Munich
And this Olympics went down in history as the most tragic. During the summer games in Munich, the Palestinian terrorist organization Black September took members of the Israeli team hostage. The terrorists made demands: the release from Israeli prisons of members of the Palestine Liberation Organization and almost two dozen other prisoners who were in European prisons. The Israeli government refused to comply with the terrorists' demands, while the Munich police launched an operation to free the hostages.
Unfortunately, the operation failed and none of the hostages managed to escape. The victims of the terrorist attack were 11 people - athletes, coaches and one German policeman.
1976: miracles of ingenuity
Not everyone can honestly earn Olympic medals, but if awards were given for ingenuity and cunning, Soviet fencer Boris Onishchenko would probably take the prize. He built a special device into his sword: it made, as soon as the athlete pressed a button, the judge’s light came on, marking accurate hits. The deception was quickly revealed: Onishchenko clearly missed the target, but the light still came on, and then they suspected something was wrong.
The result was a lifelong disqualification and the deprivation of Boris of previously earned awards.
1980 and 1984: the largest boycott of the Olympic Games
The Olympic Games of 1980 and 1984 were held without the participation of several teams at once: representatives of dozens of countries, including the USA, Germany and others, did not come to the Olympics in Moscow. This was how a protest was expressed against the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan.
Soviet athletes also did not go to the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984: the official reason was fears for the safety of the athletes. As a result, everyone lost: both Olympics are still considered one of the “weakest” in history.
Olympics, 1980
1988: first doping scandal
Canadian runner Ben Johnson shocked the world at the Seoul Olympics incredible result: He completed the 100-meter race in 9.79 seconds. But in Olympic history the Canadian was included as a defendant in the largest doping scandal at that time (nowadays such cases are not very surprising, but in the 80s the revelation became a real sensation). It turned out that Johnson was doping, so after two days he was stripped of his medal.
1994: attack on figure skater Nancy Kerrigan
Some people obviously believe that at the Olympics, like at war, all means are fair. America was shocked in 1994 by the attack on figure skater Nancy Kerrigan. An unknown man hit the athlete on the knee with a police baton.
As it turned out later, the attacker was persuaded ex-husband Tonya Harding is Nancy's longtime rival. The skaters then competed for a place on the US team at Olympic Games in Lillehammer. Ex-husband Harding decided to deprive Kerrigan of the opportunity to perform, for which he instructed an acquaintance to break the athlete right leg. There was no fracture, but due to a severe bruise, Nancy was unable to compete at the US Championships. Well, American television broadcast dramatic footage of the figure skater, holding her knee, repeating: “Why? Why?”
Both athletes, Kerrigan and Harding, ended up making the team, even despite Toni’s admission that she knew about the impending attack. In Lillehammer, Nancy won silver, while Toni took only eighth place.
2000: under 16 and over
Athletes over 16 years of age are allowed to participate in the Olympic Games, but apparently some are not willing to wait that long. Chinese gymnast Dong Fangxiao earned a bronze medal at the Sydney Olympics, but lost it 10 years later.
It’s not for nothing that they say that the secret still becomes clear: it became known that at the time of participation in the competition the girl was only 14 years old. The Chinese team, by the way, has more than once been suspected of age fraud: many athletes simply look much younger than their years.
2002: controversial victory
Scandals over judges' grades are not uncommon. In 2002, for example, at the Olympics in Salt Lake City, a scandal broke out in connection with the victory of Anton Sikharulidze and Elena Berezhnaya. Then information appeared in the media that a certain source spoke about a conspiracy between Russian and French judges who did not punish a couple from Russia for falling during a performance. The judges themselves generally denied the fact of violations.
It ended up being International Union Speed skating decided to award an additional set of gold medals to the Canadian pair. Absent from the awards ceremony were the bronze medalists, a couple from China who said they refused to take part in an “outright farce.”
2004: fan riot at Nemov’s performance
One of the most sensational moments of the 2004 Olympics in Athens was the performance of Alexei Nemov. The Russian performed almost flawlessly, but the judges gave him low marks - unfairly low, according to fans.
A real riot began in the stands: for 10 minutes, fans booed the referees, until Nemov himself called on the spectators to calm down. The most interesting thing is that such a violent reaction forced two referees to reconsider their decision and give Alexey new marks. But this still had no effect on the distribution of places and the gymnast became only fifth. Then Nemov told the press that he was pleased with the result of the competition, since such strong support from the audience meant more to him than a medal.
Cubans are an emotional people, and this quality led taekwondo fighter Matos to a lifelong disqualification. The Cuban athlete received such a serious punishment after an incident at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, when he kicked a referee in the face.
The reason was the fact that the judge automatically awarded victory to Matos’ opponent when the Cuban did not resume the fight after a minute break, that is, he violated the rules. After this incident, Fidel Castro came to the defense of Matos and accused the Olympic leadership of bias against the Cuban team.
2010: Drunk Olympics
The Vancouver Olympic Games were named by the press as the most drunk Olympics. Among her heroines are Canadian hockey players.
It is clear that after a triumphant match, athletes go to celebrate their victory (and the losers, on the contrary, drown their sorrows with wine), but to do this right on the field, of course, is unusual. Having beaten the Americans in the final, the Canadians returned to the ice half an hour after the award ceremony and immediately began celebrating in front of the fans. Girls dressed all in the same hockey uniform, drank champagne and beer straight from the bottles and even smoked cigars. The incident caused dissatisfaction with the International Olympic Committee, which considered such behavior absolutely unacceptable.
Olympics, 2010
2012: flag confusion
The 2012 Olympics in London turned out to be rich in scandals. Yes, during football match between the women's teams of the DPRK and Colombia, the organizers made an unfortunate mistake: on the scoreboard instead of a flag North Korea it turned out to be a banner South Korea. The North Korean football players were so offended by this confusion that they left the field, and only an hour later they were persuaded to return and start the game. By the way, it ended in their victory.
2014: indignant Zemfira
Of course, the Olympics in Sochi were not without a series of scandals. We all remember the opening ceremony winter games, where a mix of old and new domestic hits was played. Some artists would be delighted to see his work used during such a significant event, but not .
Having heard her track “Do You Want” at the opening of the games, the singer was indignant, telling fans that the song was used without her consent. “Lawlessness” and “direct violation of copyright” - this is how Zemfira responded about this situation. Perhaps the whole point was that the artist dreamed of performing at the opening ceremony of the Olympics and spoke openly about it, but she never received an invitation.
2014: gay boycott of the Olympics
And that's not all the scandals in Sochi. Representatives of non-traditional sexual orientation, including celebrities, called for a boycott Winter Olympics. The reason was the law adopted in Russia banning gay propaganda among minors. For example, actor and writer Stephen Fry wrote on his blog to appeal to the British government and the International Olympic Committee to boycott the games in Sochi.
The German Gay and Lesbian Union has addressed the national team, calling on all athletes to declare themselves representatives of sexual minorities during the Sochi Olympics. There were even rumors that Cher was offered to perform at the opening ceremony, but the singer refused because “they hate gays in Russia.” True, the rumors about this were never confirmed.
We hope that the summer season will be remembered more for its bright performances rather than scandals, but if there are any, the site will definitely tell you about them!
Photo Gettyimages.ru
The Olympic Games become such an important event that the eyes of millions and even billions of spectators are riveted to it. That is why victory is valued so highly there. Athletes are ready to do anything for the coveted medal. Others are trying to prove themselves at the Olympics, but by no means sportingly. After all, this is a great place for all kinds of political actions. Is it any wonder that the largest sports forum constantly rocked by various scandals?
Fake champion. Today, Michael Phelps is considered the most decorated Olympian. The peak of his fame came in 2008; in Beijing, the famous swimmer won 7 gold medals at once. Her meticulous fans discovered that there was room for scandal here. In one of the winning swims, Phelps still lost to his opponent by some hundredths of a second. There was even a whole website created that sought to convey the truth to people and expose the deception on the part of the Americans. It is alleged that the powerful country simply paid the judges for the victory of its athlete. The Olympic Committee fights off all attacks, claiming that there can be no doubt about Phelps’ victory.
Young gymnasts. Chinese gymnast Dong Fangxiao won a bronze medal at the 2000 Olympics. But after 10 years the award was taken away. It turned out that at the time of the performance the Chinese woman was only 14 years old. But according to the rules then, teenagers under 16 were not allowed to participate in competitions. It must be said that this is not the only case where Chinese gymnasts were of dubious age. At the Beijing Olympics in 2008, athletes He Kexin and Yang Yuyang turned out to be too young in appearance. However, the Chinese side was able to submit documents according to which the gymnasts were 16 years old.
Unusual logos. When the emblem of the 2012 Summer Olympics was just presented to the general public, a scandal erupted. Iran said the logo has a secret meaning. It turns out that the figures that represent the number 2012 can be added differently. The puzzle collects the word "Zion", which means "Zion". Iran saw this as a Jewish conspiracy. The country even threatened to boycott the upcoming games. Conspiracy lovers were especially outraged by the dot that stood above the unit. In the number “2012” it is absolutely not needed, but for the Latin “i” it is simply necessary. It must be said that this logo caused outrage not only in Iran. It turned out that the development of a stylish multi-colored emblem officially cost taxpayers 650 thousand dollars. The British themselves recognized the logo as ugly, and the waste of so much money was a waste. Moreover, Iran saw a Zionist message here. True, the boycott threats remained just words. Another scandal surrounded the animated version of the Olympics logo. It turned out that it provoked only 12 registered epileptic attacks. And this was just a few hours after the iridescent emblem appeared online. Then the Olympic Committee was forced to remove such a dangerous logo from its website. It was not the creators of such a logo, but its animators, who were blamed for the incident.
Black market for tickets. The British newspaper "Sunday Times" reported that the International Olympic Committee allows organizers to set a 20% markup on tickets. This provides an opportunity for the host country to make money from the Games. However, the increased demand for tickets creates a huge black market. Officials are also trying to make money here; they often get passes for free. For example, Serbian Olympic Committee employees entered the black market with one and a half thousand tickets. The buyer was even guaranteed to have fake passports. In this case, the IOC will conduct an investigation. In May 2012, the secretary of the NOC of Ukraine was caught trying to sell about a hundred tickets from his country’s quota. Unfortunately for him, the buyers turned out to be journalists, who brought the official to light.
Hot Cuban. Athletes react emotionally to victories and cry because of defeats, but no one expected such behavior. The incident with Cuban taekwondo athlete Angel Matos occurred at the 2008 Olympics. For his behavior, the athlete even received a lifelong disqualification. During his bout, Matos was injured and sought medical attention. According to the rules, the athlete is given a one-minute break for this. After the allotted time, the Cuban entered the ring. Then the judge quite expectedly gave the victory to the opponent. Matos became so angry that he pushed the referee away, then kicked him in the head, and then spat on the mat. The fact is that at the time of the stoppage, the Cuban was winning his fight with a score of 3:2. Unlike sports bodies, Fidel Castro stood up for his athlete. The Cuban leader accused officials of a real conspiracy against his athletes.
Eastern European super athletes. It is no longer a secret that during the Cold War, Eastern Europe sought to develop super athletes. To achieve this, poor athletes were fed steroids and other semi-banned drugs, increasing their chances of Olympic victories. Particularly notable in this theory is the story that happened to the 1986 European champion Heidi Krieger. The woman said that a series of medical experiments on her caused attacks of depression, moodiness and painful side effects. In the 90s, Heidi realized that she was already a man at heart, eventually having sex reassignment surgery. Currently, Andreas Krieger never tires of accusing GDR sports officials of simply using him to get medals. But even now doping scandals are shaking this region. So, in June 2008, all attention sports press was addressed to the Bulgarian weightlifting team. It was announced that all athletes from this team would be withdrawn from competing at the Beijing Olympics. Just 11 weightlifters failed doping tests at the training camp. As a result, both men and women who used methandienone were left without elite competition.
Explosion at the 1996 Olympics. Unfortunately, the Olympic Games are not as peaceful as we would like. These events are of great interest to terrorists. On July 27, 1996, an explosion occurred at the Atlanta Olympics. The homemade lethal device turned out to be the largest in history, it weighed about 20 kilograms. The terrorist attack took place in the Olympic Park, killing 2 people and injuring 111 others. The authorities developed several versions regarding the identity of the terrorist. As a result, charges were brought against American Eric Rudolph. He had previously bombed two abortion clinics and a lesbian bar. Rudolph was on the run for five years, after which he was sentenced to life without parole. The investigation made a deal with the terrorist, but the process itself turned out to be closed. All this gave rise to many conspiracy theories around the trial. The true motivation of the criminal remained unclear; perhaps there was also a political background to the case.
Black September. The Olympics is designed to unite people and stop wars. But, alas, this does not always happen. During the 1972 Munich Olympics, a group of Palestinian terrorists calling themselves "Black October" took Israeli athletes hostage. The militants demanded the release of about 200 people from the Palestine Liberation Organization from prison. As a result, the terrorist attack led to the death of 11 members of the Israeli team who died while trying to free the hostages. In addition to the five athletes, four more coaches and two judges were killed. A German policeman was also a victim of terrorists. In response to those events, the Prime Minister of Israel ordered the search and destruction of those 13 people who were involved in the preparation and implementation of that high-profile terrorist attack. They say that one of those sentenced in absentia is still free and alive.
Fake terrorist attacks. Many conspiracy theorists have stated that London Olympics will be marked by a whole series of fake terrorist attacks. They should be organized by some secret organizations, like the Illuminati or the Bilderberg Club. Some people seriously expected a series of explosions or even a simulated alien invasion. And all these events during the Olympics should have forced the authorities to declare martial law, and in the future to establish a new world order. And in this case, the emblem did not go unnoticed. Conspiracy theorists believed that the world elite intended to build a New Jerusalem in Great Britain.
Judicial fraud. At the 2002 Winter Olympics, Russian figure skaters Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze won gold in short program. Left behind were the Canadian couple Jamie Sale and Davile Pellitier. However, a protest was filed; to many, the Russian victory seemed controversial. The fact is that the judges did not punish them for a small mistake. Accusations of collusion fell on the arbitrators, and as a result, gold was also given to the Canadian couple. The third prize winners, the Chinese, refused to come to the repeat award ceremony, considering it a farce. The scandal led to a revision of the scoring system in this sport, and spectator interest in figure skating due to the undercover games raging in it, it has noticeably decreased.
Corruption scandal at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Where there is big money, bribes cannot be avoided. The loudest scandal in this regard occurred in 2002. Some senior officials of the International Olympic Committee were accused of accepting bribes from Salt Lake City officials in choosing the site of the future 2002 Games. The scandal was only hushed up by the resignation of 10 IOC members from their posts.
USSR-USA basketball final. In 1972 in the final basketball tournament The teams of two superpowers met. It is clear that the confrontation had political overtones. With three seconds left in the game, the Americans were ahead by one point. After a timeout taken by the USSR team, the Soviet players tried to score, but failed. The Americans began to celebrate the victory, but... As it turned out, in vain. The ball ended up being put into play three times, and there was constant confusion with the stopwatch. As a result, the clock was set to 3 seconds. This was enough to make a long pass to Alexander Belov. Sirena recorded the historic victory of the Soviet team 51:50. Outraged Americans refused to accept their silver medals. Rumors spread that problems with the timing were deliberately rigged, and the USSR team won only thanks to its lobby in FIBA.
Germany's refusal to participate in the 1924 Olympics. There have been many cases in history when a country, for political or simply sporting reasons, did not take part in the Olympic Games. But this situation led to something terrible - Hitler’s rise to power. In 1924, Germany was just recovering from its defeat in the First World War. The trampled German pride could be restored through victories in the sports field. However, the winning countries voted not to allow the instigator of the First World War to participate in the Olympics. This dealt a painful blow to the German patriots. Is it any wonder that just a year later, Hitler’s rise to power began on fertile soil? Perhaps Germany's participation in sports competitions would have reduced the tension in society, and Nazi ideas would not have received such support from the people.
Shenanigans with the judge's light bulb. IN Soviet press domestic athlete was certainly presented as a model of honesty. However, unsportsmanlike behavior was also common among our Olympians. The loudest scandal occurred at the 1976 Olympics. Soviet pentathlete Boris Onishchenko was able to install a special device into the handle of his sword. The athlete discreetly pressed a button disguised as suede, and a light came on for the judges, indicating an injection. The cunning device was discovered during a fight with an Englishman. He unexpectedly deviated, Onishchenko missed, but the light still came on. A scandal broke out. All Soviet team I was disqualified from the pentathlon. The USSR State Sports Committee announced a lifelong ban on Onishchenko from competing in competitions, he was deprived of all awards and titles and was even expelled from the party.
