Top Ten Shocking Olympic Scandals You Need To Know!

Larry Nassar is not alone in being the center of Olympic scandals. Maybe you've heard of Michael Phelp's drug scandal, or Ryan Lochte lying about being robbed in 2016 - but here are ten Olympic sized scandals sure to have you on the edge of your seat.

Biography / Via biography.com

In the 1990s, Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan competed fiercely in a series of figure skating competitions. In the weeks leading up to the 1994 Olympics, Harding was found to be an accomplice to hiring a man to forcibly break Kerrigan’s leg. Once found guilty, Harding was banned from the Olympics, while Kerrigan miraculously recovered in seven weeks and went on to win the silver medal.

Huffington Post / Via huffingtonpost.com

Due to the corrupt judgement call from the International Olympic Committee the glory of the USA was taken away. Twelve unclaimed silver medals from the USA Basketball Stolen Glory case 40 years later still haunts us. The IOC screwed the U.S. team over a foul up with 3 seconds on the clock and an incredulous do over for the Soviets. Well shoot. The Olympic officials even considered canceling the rest of the basketball events altogether.

Daily Mail / Via dailymail.co.uk

In the year 2000, Spain won the paralympics gold medal in basketball, but it was later found that 10 of the team’s 12 players weren’t even disabled. Not until 13 years later was Fernando Martin Vicente, the former head of the Spanish Federation for Mentally Handicapped Sports, found guilty for leading athletes to submit fake medical certificates saying they were disabled! He was even quoted saying “Lads, move down a gear or they'll figure out you're not disabled.”

Reuters / Via reuters.com

Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson set the world record for the 100m dash in 1988. The new world record holder was stripped of his medal only days later after testing positive for steroids. It was later found that U.S. sprinter Calvin Smith, 4th, was the only sprinter in the top 5 that was not under the influence of performance-enhancing drugs.

New York Times / Via nytimes.com

The Chinese women’s gymnastics team was stripped of its bronze medal in 2000 after officials discovered Dong Fangxiao had lied about her age to compete in the games. The minimum age required to compete is 16, and Fangxiao was only 14 at the time she won the medal.

The Guardian / Via theguardian.com

American boxer Roy Jones Jr. was robbed of a gold medal in boxing during the 1988 Olympics due to corrupt judges. Jones landed 86 punches compared to his opponent Park Si Hun’s 32. The scores indicated Jones won every round of the fight, yet Park Si Hun was awarded the gold medal in a shocking 3-2 vote from the judges.

David Ramos / Getty Images / Via bbc.com

In 2016, over 100 of the 387 Russian athletes present were banned from the Olympics after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. An investigation was launched on a possible “state-sponsored doping program” and many of the athletes were banned from Olympic competition. The widespread positive tests encouraged a tighter scrutiny on controlled substances in the Olympics, which was already a prevalent issue.

The Star / Via thestar.com

African-American sprinters John Carlos and Tommie Smith raise their gloved fists in a black power salute at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. The salute was due to Mexico’s 1968 Massacre after thousand of students were killed during their student movement protest 10 days before the Olympics. Students wanted the Mexican government to focus more on investing money on education, rather than the Olympics. The Mexican government sent snipers to kill the students protesting because they did not want the students to interfere with the Olympics. The first Olympics in Mexico were held 10 days after the massacre!

AP Photo / Via longreads.com

The world’s first female track superstar Stella Walsh won two Olympic medals in her life. In her death, they were almost taken away from her. Shot in the stomach during an attempted parking lot robbery, this Olympic sprinter died on the operating table. And if she wasn’t already having a rough enough day, her Olympic medals were brought into question when her autopsy revealed she was actually intersex.

CNN / Via cnn.com

World-renowned physician Larry Nassar was convicted for decades of criminal sexual misconduct against over 150 women gymnasts. Nassar was finally brought to justice in early 2018 after a gut-wrenching trial involving 156 victim statements. Prominent U.S. gymnasts such as McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman, and Simone Biles were among those speaking out against the man who molested them. Nassar was sentenced to between 40 and 175 years in prison for his horrible crimes.