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by - August 8, 2008 - 2:10 PM
Boycotts have caused controversy at the Olympic games in 1976, 1980, and 1984, and pressure was put on the United States and other nations to lead a boycott of the current games because of China’s support of the Darfur genocide and mass displacement of residents, amongst other reasons. They aren’t the only incidents that have caused scandal at the Games, however. Here are 10 other events, both major and minor, that have also created controversy in the history of the Olympics.
1. 1932—Equestrian Bertil Sandstrom of Sweden is demoted to last place for clicking to his horse to encourage it.
2. 1936—German cyclist Toni Merkens fouls Dutch opponent Arie van Vliet; rather than being disqualified, he is fined and keeps his gold medal.
3. 1968—The East German women’s luge team is DQ’d for heating the runners prior to each of their runs.
4. 1972—Eleven members of the Israeli Olympic team are taken hostage by a Palestinian terrorist group and later murdered.
5. 1980—In addition to massive boycotts led by the United States, pole vault jumper Wladyslaw Kozakiewics was almost stripped of his medal for making a “bent elbow” gesture at the public.
6. 1988—Three judges for the boxing final between Park Si-Hun and Roy Jones Jr. are later suspended after it was found they may have been bribed into giving the win to Park despite Jones’ clear success in the match.
7. 1994—Tonya Harding is banned for life after arranging for an attack to be made on her closest rival, Nancy Kerrigan.
8. 2002—Various members of the IOC were forced to resign after it was revealed they accepted expensive “gifts” in return for choosing Salt Lake City as the host of the Games.
9. 2002—The gold medal for pairs figure skating is given to both Berexhnaya & Sikharulidze and Sale’ & Pelletier when it was found that the French Judge, Marie-Reine Le Gougne, had been bribed.
10. 2004—Marathon runner Vanderlei de Lima is pushed into the crowd by a defrocked Irish priest, losing his first place position.
Comments (16)
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Clicking to his horse???
posted by gourry on 8-8-2008 at 2:34 pm
I don’t quite understand numbers 1 and 5. What exactly is clicking at your horse and what is a bent elbow gesture?
posted by Mattie on 8-8-2008 at 3:42 pm
If my research is correct, clicking was used as a way of encouraging the horse.
The bent elbow gesture, at least according to Wikipedia, serves as “a more theatrical and physically exuberant version of the finger”. Maybe that’s why the Russians were a bit upset.
posted by Ben Smith on 8-8-2008 at 4:48 pm
The “bent elbow gesture” is commonly interpreted as “up yours”
posted by PartiallyDeflected on 8-8-2008 at 5:14 pm
But didn’t Tonya Harding compete in the ‘94 Olympics? I remember the scandal, but I also remember her embarrassing scene where she skated part of her routine, then skated up to the judges table and cried about her skate being unlaced….or something like that.
Anyone with me?
posted by Jen on 8-8-2008 at 10:21 pm
Why is clicking to your horse a bad thing?
posted by Dawn on 8-8-2008 at 10:43 pm
Jen, yes you are right about Tanya Harding. The Olympic Committee let her skate after being threatened by a lawsuit(the wimps). The showdown between Harding and Kerrigan got HUGE ratings and ignited a big interest in Women’s Figure Skating. Ultimately, Oksana Baiul won the gold and Nancy Kerrigan came across as a bit of spoiled brat. Cameras caught her making snide comments about Baiul when the medal ceremony was delayed. The ceremony was delayed because no one had expected Baiul to win and they couldn’t find the music for the Ukrainian national anthem.
posted by kani on 8-8-2008 at 11:27 pm
Clicking to your horse is illegal in the sport of dressage (the none-jumping sport). The horse must obey your body signals – not verbal. Its very easy to teach a horse to go faster from a clicking noise, but much harder to get him to obey a slight muscle tension. However, you can click, yell, or talk as much as you want to your horse if you are jumping.
posted by Gretchen on 8-8-2008 at 11:35 pm
I might also bring up the Paul Hamm accounting scandal in 2004, the bombing in 1996, and the eternal second of the 1972 basketball final vs. Russia.
posted by Dave on 8-8-2008 at 11:37 pm
Clicking to your horse is illegal in dressage (the non-jumping sport). Its easier to teach a horse to go forward from a verbal command / noise than a muscle cue. You have to communicate to the horse with body language only. However, if you are jumping your horse you can yell, sing, or talk as much as you like to your horse.
posted by Gretchen on 8-8-2008 at 11:41 pm
. . how many repeats of number 8 are we likely to see this year?
posted by 克莱夫 on 8-9-2008 at 8:19 am
How is murdering 11 people not the no. 1 most shocking or “shakiest”?
posted by Brian on 8-9-2008 at 7:47 pm
I wonder what the odds are of Prague hosting an Olympics any time in the near future. I work in a hotel here and the closest an Olympics was to this city was in Turin in 2006.
posted by C Bird on 8-10-2008 at 7:47 am
The list in in chronological order, not in “most shocking” order.
Wasn’t it the ‘84 Olympics when American runner Mary Decker got tripped — maybe accidentally, maybe not — by Zola Budd? For some reasons those names are still in my memory all these years later.
posted by Jenny on 8-10-2008 at 6:38 pm
The murder of 11 people =/= Tonya Harding. You can do better.
posted by fixedgear on 8-11-2008 at 2:47 pm
What about “1936 – IOC awards Olympics to Nazi Germany”?
posted by Alan G on 8-14-2008 at 1:00 am