In sports venues around the world, it is not only the stories of heroes and winners that are being written. But history also remembers the rogues who were so blinded by the vision of glory and success that they spat on the rules of fair play.
Fraud and cheats are as intrinsic to sport as a white foam cap is to a good beer. They were always here, they are still here, and they will certainly not disappear in the future. While there is not much we can write about future cheaters, there is plenty we can write about those who have cheated in the past. The following chapters feature ten athletes who are more famous for their scams than their performances.
Chicago White Sox
There is no more significant event in baseball than the World Series finals. Who would want to lose in it, right? Still, there was one such team.
The incident went down in history as the “Black Sox Scandal”, and it was all about big money. It was all about betting and the mob that bribed eight Chicago White Sox players with $100,000 to help the favored team lose on the field against Cincinnati.
The fraud, however, came to light, and an investigation was launched. The jury ultimately found no one guilty of a crime, but the ultimate verdict was harsh – a lifetime ban and an inability to enter the Hall of Fame. On the other hand, in some ways, the boys are more famous than if they had won the World Series back in 1919…
Panama Lewis
Fighting is a brutal sport, but it might well be even more brutal if one thinks about it. Remove the padding from the gloves, and the blows to the opponent’s skull are like hammer blows. This is how Panama Lewis, by then a respected trainer, helped his charge Luis Resto in his 1983 fight with Billy Collins.
Collins ended up the loser in the tenth round of the duel with a completely mashed face and a damaged cornea. He could never see well in the eye again, and his boxing career was over after that encounter. Lewis lost his trainer’s license in time, and nine months after the fight, Collins died at the age of 22 in a car crash when his car drove off a cliff. Family members to this day say it was a suicide.
Ben Johnson
The Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson won the 100m at the 1988 Olympics with a fantastic time of 9.79 seconds, defeating his most prominent rival Carl Lewis. The joy lasted only until his urine sample ended up in a laboratory, where it was found to contain banned steroids.
The hero became the ultimate villain overnight. Johnson lost his record and his medals. After a two year ban from racing, he tried to return to the track. Still, he ended up ingloriously with another doping scandal.
Stella Walsh
Polish sprinter, aka Stanislawa Walasiewicz, won a gold medal in the 100-meter dash at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. She won silver four years later in Berlin over the same distance. She broke eighteen world records during her sporting career. Her autopsy after her death in 1980 revealed that she had male genitalia.
Boris Onishenko
Soviet modern pentathlete Boris Onishenko perpetrated an elaborate hoax at the 1976 Montreal Olympics on a grand scale. He had modified his sword and scored points for his opponent’s hits in fencing duels by pressing a button ingeniously hidden in the weapon’s handle.
An electronic device reported a hit even if the tip never touched the opponent. His trick didn’t work in the end. His opponents found it strange that Onishenko was getting hits for fencing in the air; they initiated a cord check. The trick was discovered, and the Soviet was disqualified from the games.
Dora Ratjen
Things needed to change with the desired success still not coming in the women’s high jump. In 1936, Germany hosted the Olympics in Berlin and among the home medal hopes was Dora Ratjen. Sadly, she came only fourth in the end and even sadder is the fact that she wasn’t even a woman; she was a man.
Whether or not this was deliberate deception remains a mystery to this day. After all, the midwives labelled Dora a woman when she was born and was raised as a girl. The error was later discovered, but then why not exploit it at the Olympics, where Adolf Hitler wanted to win as many medals as possible? Several wild theories suggest that several men competed in the women’s events in the German jersey at the time.
The “Skategate” affair
In contrast to disciplines in which an athlete’s performance can be accurately measured, skating is entirely in the power of the subjective evaluation of a panel of judges. Thus, skaters and figure skaters do not actually compete with each other but try to make the best possible impression on the judges.
Back in 2002, the sporting world was rocked by the so-called “Skategate” affair. The Russian pair Berezhna – Sikharulidze won the pairs competition at the Salt Lake City Olympics by one vote over the Canadian couple Saleova – Pelletier. However, with the support of NBC, North Americans unleashed a considerable media campaign accusing the jury of fraud. French judge Reine Le Gougne, who allegedly “helped” the Russian couple at the insistence of mafioso Alimzhan Tochtachunov, was guilty of this.
In the end, the Olympics Committee charmingly resolved the matter. Additionally, a gold medal was also awarded to the Canadian pair, and there was even a repeat of the ceremony, which NBC pushed for.
Rosie Ruiz
Who would want to run a full marathon in his right mind, right? So why not ease up a bit and trim some of the mileage from the 42-kilometer portion? Cuban American Rosie Ruiz probably came up with something like that in 1980 and didn’t just have an idea but made it happen.
Starting the marathon on the streets of Boston, she nimbly slipped into the subway. She made her way to the finish line, standing among the spectators and waiting patiently. As her rivals approached, she dashed out of the crowd and was the first to cross the finish line in a great time.
Her win was short-lived. Cheating was discovered, and her name was erased from the results, and the victory was awarded to Canadian Jacquelin Gareau.
Fred Lorz
In the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis, USA, local athlete Fred Lorz was the first to cross the marathon’s finish line. He was promptly congratulated on his victory by President Roosevelt and kissed on the cheek by his daughter Alice.
However, after an hour or so, it became clear that Lorz had abandoned the race after 30 kilometers and was being driven by a car outside the stadium. He got out, took up running again and played the winner’s role perfectly. He got a lifetime suspension but was pardoned after a year.
Lance Armstrong
American cyclist Lance Armstrong offered a typical example of how a great hero can become a gigantic cheat a few months ago. Winner of seven Tour de France races from 1999 to 2005; he was heavy into doping. For a long time, Armstrong denied that he had helped himself illegally in any way. Still, he admitted to taking banned substances on Oprah Winfrey’s TV show earlier this year.
He has become a role model for millions in the past, as he won his battle with testicular cancer and successfully returned to professional cycling. He lost all his titles and sponsors after his doping was exposed.
