Jaw-Dropping Scandals That Forever Changed Olympic History

The Olympic Games aren’t all fun and games. From imposters to boycotts to tragic deaths, they’ve had their share of controversy.

Find out what some of the worst scandals have been and how they have shaped the games you know and love…

Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan

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A month before the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Nancy Kerrigan was attacked. Tonya Harding’s ex-husband was found to be responsible. Kerrigan triumphantly returned to the Games and went on to win silver. Harding competed, but did not medal.

Harding was later banned for life from all U.S. Figure Skating competitions, as well as from becoming a sanctioned coach.

An Imposter Crosses The Finish Line

Recover Your Stride

At the end of the 1972 marathon, a German runner entered the stadium and was met with much fanfare. Except he wasn’t the leader of the race. He wasn’t in the race at all. He was simply pulling a prank. Broadcasters were immediately outraged.

You can hear their incredulity here.

The Salé and Pelletier Scandal

The Score

After Canadian figure skating pair Jamie Salé and David Pelletier finished their skate in 2002, many seemed certain they would win gold. Except they didn’t— a Russian pair won.

While figure skating does have subjectivity in its judging, it seemed so egregious that an investigation took place.

A French judge confessed that she had been pressured to vote in favor of the Russian pair, in exchange for the Russian judges voting favorably for the French team. She later retracted her statement.

Salé and Pelletier were awarded gold alongside the Russian team. To prevent this from occurring in the future, the entire scoring system for figure skating was revamped, and that new system is still used today.

The Russia Ban

AFP

For the 2018 games, the entire country of Russia was banned from competing in the Olympics. It had been discovered that not only had Russian athletes been doping, but they had done so as part of a state-sponsored scheme.

In order to not punish Russian athletes who had not participated in the scheme, the Olympic committee said the athletes could still enter as individuals, but they had to wear a neutral uniform, and the Russian anthem would not be played.

Russian athletes were evaluated on a case-by-case basis to determine eligibility.