OLYMPICS - GREATEST CHEATS IN HISTORY

GREATEST CHEATS IN OLYMPIC HISTORY

BORIS ONISCHENKO :

The sword that scored on its own

Boris Onischenko, a KGB colonel, entered the 1976 Olympics in Montreal a respected modern
pentathlete who had won a silver medal in Munich four years earlier. He exited the Games in disgrace. Modern pentathlon is a five-discipline event that includes fencing, but Onischenko’s ipie was not the innocent weapon of competition it appeared. He had wired his sword so that he could trigger the electronic scoring system with his hand and register a hit at will.

FRED LORZ:

Marathon champion who traveled by car

The marathon at the St Louis Olympic Games of 1904 was held over a hilly course in the middle of a scorching afternoon. Small wonder only 14 of the 32 starters made it to the finish. First home, after three hours 13 minutes, was immediately proclaimed the winner. He was about to be awarded the gold medal, when word got out that he had covered 11 miles as the passenger in a car.

1980 OLYMPICS:

Behind the Iron Curtain

It is alleged that the Soviet Union blatantly cheated their way to five gold medals one of which was the triple jump gold in 1980. The two best triple jumpers in the world that year, Brazilian Joao de Oliveira, world record holder and Ian Campbell of Australia were consistently given foul jumps: 9 out of 12. The USSR’s Jaak Uudmde was declared winner.

DORA RATJEN:

Man or woman

Dora Ratjen, a German athlete was
born a man but was forced by the Nazis to disguise himself as a woman “for the sake of the honour and glory of Germany”. On his way back from the European Championships, two women spotted him with a five o’clock shadow. A doctor was summoned and his sex revealed.