| | |  Americas & Beyond | August 2008 
Infamous Olympic Moments
 Barend Prins - Iafrica.com
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| | Disgraced Olympic sprinter Ben Johnson. (AFP) | | |
Any sporting event that has been around for more than a century is bound to have produced some controversial moments. If such an event happens to be the most watched sporting showcase in the world it is bound to have had some of the most controversial sporting moments ever!
Iafrica.com's Barend Prins investigates...
Berlin 1936 Jesse Owens vs Adolf Hitler
The 1936 Games in the German capital was supposed to be an exhibition of Aryan superiority, as Hitler attempted to show the world just how superior his ingenuous Germans were to anybody else. Enter Jesse Owens a black slave-descendant barely recognized in his own country. In 45 brilliant minutes, Owens broke three world records and tied a fourth, in the long jump, 220 yard (201 m) sprint, 220-yard (200 m) low hurdles, and the 100 yard (91 m) sprint respectively thus writing his name in the Olympic annals forever, and embarrassing 'Der Fuhrer' in the process.
Mexico City 1968 Black Panther Salute
Ten days before the start of the Mexico Games, the Tlatelolco massacre occurred, in which more than 300 Mexican student protesters were killed by the army and police. Two weeks after the massacre, Tommie Smith and John Carlos the gold and bronze medalists respectively in the men's 200-meter race took their places on the podium for the medal ceremony barefooted and wearing civil rights buttons, while lowering their heads and defiantly raising a black-gloved fist as the American national anthem was played. Smith and Carlos were subsequently suspended from the U.S. team and banned from the Olympic Village. Their gesture had lingering effects however, as they, along with their family received several death threats, as their protest was labeled 'a disgrace to all Americans'.
Munich 1972 The Munich massacre
The 1972 Games, the second to be held in Germany was supposed to show the world a new, democratic Germany it was even dubbed, 'The Happy Games'! The mood however was ruined when 11 Israeli athletes were killed by Palestinian terrorists. Eight Palestinians, belonging to the 'Black September' organization, broke into the Olympic Village and took the Israeli athletes hostage in their apartment, killing two of the hostages on sight. The ensuing standoff in the Olympic Village lasted for 18 hours. The hostages were eventually transferred to a helicopter, but were killed when another Palestinian threw a hand grenade into the 'copter. The Games were temporarily suspended by the IOC, but IOC boss Avery Brundage called for the event to continue, eventually resuming a day later.
Munich 1972 The Basketball final
The United States basketball team had a 36-year undefeated streak at the Olympics, dating back to 1936 and had it not been for some ludicrous refereeing, their winning streak might have gone on for much longer! The US team met Cold War rivals the USSR in the final of the '72 event in what some call "the most controversial game in international basketball history". With three seconds left, the US made two free-throws to take the lead 50-49, despite the hooter going off between the first and second throw. In the seconds that followed, the USSR failed to capitalize on their position but with one second left on the clock play was stopped after one official heard the earlier horn. The clock had to be reset to three seconds again, but was showing 0:50 when play commenced. Again, the Soviets failed to score and the US began celebrating as the scoreboard showed the 50-49 final score. Due to an 'error' at the restart, a further three seconds were added though. This time the Soviets did score, and won the gold medal in the process. In protest, the US team did not show up to the medal ceremony. To this day, their medals sit unclaimed in a vault at the IOC headquarters, with each member of the team vowing never to claim them!
East German doping program
East Germany won an incredible 160 gold medals during the reign Manfred Ewald chief of the former East Germany's sports program time in charge. 40 Gold medals were awarded at the 1976 Montreal games alone, a tally more than double that won at the previous Games. Not bad for a country of just 17 million inhabitants. The whole can of worms was opened however when Ewald was found guilty of being 'accessory to the intentional bodily harm of athletes' in 2000. A number of athletes testified, including Andreas Krieger (born Heidi Krieger), who stated that the drugs he had been given had contributed to his transsexuality.
Moscow 1980/ Los Angeles 1984 boycotts
The 1980 Games in the Soviet capital was disrupted due to a boycott lead by the US after the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan by the USSR. 64 Other countries followed suit, despite such a boycott going against one of the basic principles of the Olympics that politics should play no part in them! The USSR, followed by allies Cuba and East-Germany returned the favour in 1984, blaming 'chauvinistic sentiments and an anti-Soviet hysteria being whipped up in the United States' for their boycott.
Los Angeles 1984 Zola Budd
South African-born middle distance runner Zola Budd shot into fame as a 17-year-old when she broke the women's 5000 metre world record in 1984. Budd was allowed to compete in the '84 event under the British flag, as her grandfather was British. The pre-race hype in the 3000m event billed the final as a duel between the young Budd and world champion Mary Decker. At the half-way stage in the race, Budd had assumed control of the race, with Decker in hot pursuit. Decker repeatedly clipped Budd, eventually stumbling onto the infield. Her left hip was injured and she was unable to resume the race. Budd was booed by the crowd for the rest of the race, eventually finishing seventh. She tried to apologize to Decker after the race, but the American did not respond in the same spirit, and replied, Dont bother! It is general practice for the athlete behind to avoid contact with the runner ahead
Seoul 1988 Ben Johnson
Jamaican-born Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson headlined one of the most high-profile falls from grace in recent memory. Johnson was a competitive sprinter in the 1980s, winning two bronze medals at the '84 LA Games. A long rivalry with legendary American sprinter Carl Lewis followed, and at the Seoul showpiece, it seemed Johnson had finally come out from under the shadow of the prolific American winning the 100m sprint and smashing the world record in the process. Boastingly, Johnson stated that he could have run faster had he not lifted his arms in triumph when he crossed the finishing line! Three days later it all went down the proverbial toilet as his blood was found to contain samples of Stanozol. Johnson was stripped of his medals and all records he previously held.
Seoul 1988 Korean Boxing fix
South Korean boxer Park Si-Hun won the light heavyweight event after defeating American Roy Jones Jr. in the gold medal bout, by virtue of a controversial 3-2 judges ruling. Nevertheless, Jones Jr. received the Val Barker Trophy an award for the most impressive boxer of the Games. Allegations that Korean officials had fixed judges' ruling lead to their suspension, but Park Si-Hun kept his gold medal nonetheless!
Athens 2004 The Marathon
Brazilian Vanderlei de Lima was comfortably in the lead of the grueling race with four miles to go. That is, until he was tackled by a protester, wearing a kilt, a green beret and a white placard with the words "The Grand Prix priest. Israel fulfillment of prophecy says the bible, the second coming is near," on it. A shocked De Lima recovered fairly well however, eventually finishing third. The police later stated that the protester was the same man that ran onto the track at the 2003 British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
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