Most controversial Olympic moments ever from illegal backflips to gender row
While sportsmanship and camaraderie often reign supreme at the Olympic Games, the elite competition is no stranger to controversy. Over the years, there have been doping scandals, illegal moves and more recently staff utilising drones to spy on opponents.
At the 2024 event in Paris, we also saw Algerian boxer Imane Khelif being crowned champion after Angela Carini lasted just 46 seconds in the ring with her. The latter was later heard telling her coach "it’s not fair" before refusing to shake her competitor’s hand—a move the 25-year-old has since apologised for causing "controversy".
Other controversial events that have gone down in Olympic history include Ben Johnson being stripped of his gold medal and world record at the 1988 Seoul Games. The runner was disgraced after he tested positive for steroids.
Moreover, we’ve seen medals being revoked a decade after they were awarded. And who could forget when a quartet of swimmers were eventually banned from the sport after alleging they’d been held at gunpoint in Rio?
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1988 - Ben Johnson tested positive for anabolic steroidsBen Johnson was stripped of gold in the 1988 Olympics (Image: Getty)At the 1998 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, Ben Johnson earned gold in the 100m for the United States.
However, two days after gaining his podium position, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stripped Johnson of his gold medal and his 9.79 world record time.
The runner tested positive for stanozolol —a synthetic steroid derived from testosterone and his gold medal was awarded to original silver medalist Carl Lewis.
1998 - Surya Bonaly’s backflip SUBSCRIBE Invalid emailWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. Read our Privacy Policy
Surya Bonaly performed an illegal backflip at Winter Olympics (Image: Getty)At the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, Surya Bonaly became the first and only Olympic figure skater to perform a backflip and land on one blade.
This move, now dubbed the ‘Bonaly’, was performed despite backflips being banned since 1976 from all competitions held under ISU Rules.
Following the controversial move, the French woman turned her back on the judges as she completed the programme.
It’s later claimed that she was ‘skating more for her fans than the judges’.
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A decade after gymnast Dong Fangxiao won bronze with China at the 2000 Sydney Games she was ordered to return her medal by the International Olympic Committee.
The governing body acted on evidence that Fanxiao was 14 when she won the medal—two years younger than the minimum age of 16 to compete in the Olympics.
Dominique Dawes later claimed: “Justice [had] prevailed” as the USA was awarded the bronze instead.
"My teammates are very well-deserving of the bronze medal, and I'm sure each and every one of us will be thrilled. We will cherish it.”
2004 - Vanderlei de Lima attacked by de-frocked Irish priest Neil HoranBrazilian long-distance runner Vanderlei de Lima was leading the Men’s Marathon at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
However, with six kilometres to go, he was accosted and forced into the crowd by defrocked Roman Catholic priest Cornelius ‘Neil’ Horan.
The runner managed to escape and claw his way to third place, earning himself a bronze medal.
Of the attack, Horan later claimed: "I wasn’t doing it as a prank, I was doing it to spread the gospel and to prepare people for the Second Coming.”
Lima was later awarded the Pierre de Coubertin medal for the spirit of sportsmanship at the closing of the event.
2012 - Badminton women’s doubles eight players disqualifiedWomen were disqualified from competing in badminton at the 2012 Olympics (Image: Getty)Eight female badminton players were disqualified by the Badminton World Federation at the 2012 Olympics in London.
The women—two pairs from South Korea and one each from China and Indonesia— were charged by the federation with “not using best efforts” and “conducting oneself in a manner that is clearly abusive or detrimental to the sport”.
While Chinese authorities accepted the disqualification decision, the Indonesian and South Korean pairs appealed.
These appeals however were respectively rejected and later withdrawn.
2016 - Olympic swimmers 'robbed' at gunpointJames Feigen (top L), Ryan Lochte (top R) Gunnar Bentz (bottom L) and Jack Conger. (Image: Getty)At the 2016 Summer Olympics, four swimmers claimed they’d been robbed at gunpoint in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Ryan Lochte, Jimmy Geigen, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger claimed armed men had forced them out of their taxi in the early hours of the morning.
Details later emerged that the ‘armed robbers posing as police’ were actually just security guards at a gas station where Lochte had allegedly vandalized a framed poster.
After an investigation into the claims, Lochte was later charged by Rio police for falsely reporting a crime and he was later suspended by both the U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Swimming for 10 months.
Meanwhile, Bentz, Conger, and Feigen were suspended for four months.
2024 - Canadian women's football team sanctioned for spying with droneBev Priestman was embroiled in Canada's drone-spying scam (Image: Getty)Before the 2024 Paris Olympics kicked off it was announced that two staff from the Canadian National Women’s Soccer Team had been sent home for spying on opponents New Zealand using a drone.
French authorities in Saint-Étienne were notified of the scandal by Football Ferns staff and it was later revealed Joseph Lombardi, an unaccredited analyst with Canada Soccer, and Jasmine Mander, an assistant coach, had been removed from their posts.
Days later, The Canadian Olympic Committee announced head coach Bev Priestman had been suspended from her position.
FIFA then revealed the team would receive a six-point penalty and that Canada Soccer would be fined around £181,800.
Canada Soccer and the Canadian Olympic Committee appealed the six-point penalty which was later dismissed.
window.topArticlesScript="https://cdn.images.express.co.uk/js/dist/article-top-articles202408011.min.js"2024 - Boxing match between Imane Khelif and Angela CariniImane Khelif and Angela Carini fought for just 46 seconds (Image: Getty)Women’s boxing at the Paris Olympics has proved controversial after Italian Angela Carni retired just 46 seconds into her round-of-16 match against Algerian boxer Imane Khelif.
The 25-year-old claimed her opponent landed a punch that was the hardest she’d ever received in a fight and abandoned the match because of it.
“My face and nose were hurting,” Carini said, as per Gazzetta dello Sport. “I couldn’t breathe anymore. I thought about my family, I looked at my brother in the stands and I went to my corner to retire. … I’ve never been hit with such a powerful punch.”
Khelif, 25, was disqualified from last year’s World Boxing Championships after the International Boxing Association (IBA) claimed she’d failed a gender eligibility test.
The IBA clarified that Khelif was not subject to a testosterone exam but that tests had “proved they had XY chromosomes and were thus excluded”.
Khelif does not identify as transgender and according to multiple reports, she was born a biological woman, which is also listed on her official Algerian passport.
Most controversial Olympic moments ever from illegal backflips to gender row
Most controversial Olympic moments ever from illegal backflips to gender row
Most controversial Olympic moments ever from illegal backflips to gender row
Most controversial Olympic moments ever from illegal backflips to gender row
Most controversial Olympic moments ever from illegal backflips to gender row
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