A brief exploration of Olympic scandals | By Abigail Poh Lin Xian
 |
| Illustration by @muthiahhsh |
For as long as sports competitions have existed, so have wild stories of scandals, whether it be accusations of doping or cheating, corruption by event organisers, or unfair and biased judges. These scandals are not unique to the Olympics, as these issues and more are rife across the entire sports scene, no matter the type of sport - as any fan would gladly attest. Admittedly, I tend to view the Olympics through rose coloured glasses, being someone who has tuned in all throughout my life. As it is one of the most watched sporting events on television, there is a level of prestige and glamour associated with the event.
It is easy to forget that everyone involved: the athletes, coaches, even the organisers of the event are only human at the end of the day, and can be just as flawed as any average person. The Olympics gives them a chance to etch their names into history, becoming a legend and inspiration to future generations. This allure of potential fame, fortune and glory on what is widely considered to be the sporting world’s biggest stage has led many to use underhanded methods to try and gain an advantage over their opponents.
Doping
Doping, the act of using performance enhancing substances in sporting activities, has long been a commonly used method of cheating in the Olympics. One of the first cases in the modern Olympics happened all the way back in 1968, where a penathlete named Hans-Gunnar Liljenwall was stripped of his bronze medal after alcohol was discovered in his blood during testing. As techniques to check for doping were refined over the decades, more serious cases involving the use of drugs were uncovered. It has been likened to a constant cat and mouse chase, with new technology or medicinal advancements leading to both more refined drugs and drug tests.
One of the biggest controversies in recent years was the mass banning of Russian athletes from participating in the 2016 Rio Olympics after a whistleblower alleged that many Russian competitors were abusing drugs to improve performance. This accusation from the ex-director of Russia’s anti-doping lab had severe repercussions as it resulted in an investigation that led to the barring of more than 100 athletes from participating in the games. Eventually, Russia was banned from using its team name, flag and national anthem in the Olympics. To this day, Russia has not been able to compete in the Olympics under its own flag due to this doping scandal and subsequent invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Crime
Olympic competitions have been overshadowed by serious crimes in the past. For example, the story of Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan has been infamous since the 1990s. While leaving a practice session, Kerrigan was attacked by a man with a club, resulting in leg injuries. The assault was later revealed to be a planned attack by Jeff Gillooly, the former husband of her competitor, Tonya Harding. Although the attack on Kerrigan did not happen during the Olympics, this attack clouded the women’s figure skating event that occurred a month later, with media coverage of the incident dominating conversations about the event. As both skaters were representing the US, the controversy attracted a huge media frenzy. Kerrigan’s injuries had recovered and both women competed in the 1994 Olympics. Kerrigan won the silver medal and Harding only managed to finish in eighth place.
Later on, Harding was charged with conspiracy to hinder the prosecution’s case, and banned for life from US Figure Skating Association (USFSA) events. To this day, speculation still exists as to how much Harding knew about the attack before it happened, as she has always maintained the stance that she was not involved in planning the assault. However, she has stated in interviews that she had a hunch her former husband was planning something from overheard conversations. With the benefit of hindsight, many fans of figure skating now mourn the potential she could have had to be one of the greatest female figure skaters in the Olympics. After all, Tonya Harding was the first American woman to land a triple axel in an international figure skating competition.
Cheating
One of the most egregious cases of cheating in the Olympics happened during the 2000 Sydney Paralympics. The Spanish team for the men’s intellectual disability basketball event performed exceptionally well, bagging the gold medal for their country. Unfortunately, what was supposed to be a proud achievement for Spain turned into a disaster as it was revealed by one of the team’s members, an undercover journalist named Carlos Ribagorda, that only 2 of the 12 members were actually disabled - the rest had been faking their disability the whole time. The requirement for the event was an IQ score of less than 75; however, it was unclear how the team managed to falsify their tests, with some reports stating that the men never went through an IQ test, or that some purposely scored low on their tests.
The photos that were released after their win began to spread online, and people began to recognise the men in the photos as people without disabilities. This, in combination with the publication of Ribagorda’s article, led to the entire team’s disqualification. It has been speculated that the President of the Spanish Federation of Sportspeople with Intellectual Disabilities, Fernando Martinez Vicente, intentionally came up with this team to secure long term government grants by winning guaranteed gold medals. The most heartbreaking part of this scandal was the suspension of all intellectual disability events at the Paralympics due to challenges in ensuring the participating athletes were genuinely disabled. This led to countless lost opportunities for many paralympians as the category was only brought back 9 years later. Even so, the category for intellectual disability basketball has still not returned as a permanent Paralympic event since the incident.
The Olympic world is obviously no stranger to scandals and controversy. While the games remain popular, these issues must be addressed as they threaten to erode audience trust and ruin the integrity of the sporting events for hardworking athletes who practice for years on end without using shortcuts, all for a chance on the podium. It is clear that stricter regulations and systemic change must be put into place for the Olympic dream to still be worth something at the end of the day.
0 comments