lip top 10: scandals in women’s sport
A happy London Olympics to you all! As much as we love to see athletes triumph, there’s always a sadistic joy to be found in watching them experience a little bit of tragedy now and then. So, in the spirit of Olympic rivalry and the drive to win at any cost, I present you with the top 10 sporting scandals surrounding the ladies.
1. Chinese Swimming Team Dopings in the 1990s
China had never really been considered a swimming powerhouse until, out of nowhere, they took home a huge swag of medals from the 1992 Olympics and 1994 World Championships, which raised a few eyebrows. They were caught out when 11 members tested positive for the growth hormone dihydrotestosterone in 1994, but they didn’t learn their lesson. Over a 15 year period since 1990, 40 Chinese swimmers have failed drug tests. So, you know, only a couple.
2. Just which gender is Caster Semenya?
You might remember this one. Caster Semenya is a runner from South Africa, who was subjected to series of gender tests after being too awesome to believe. The scandal here isn’t so much that her gender was doubted (gender tests conducted by sporting authorities aren’t uncommon), but the way she was treated through the hullabaloo. Semenya’s supporters were angry at the way the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) handled it, others were angry that Athletics South Africa didn’t help her properly, and she was banned from competition for close to a year. While the results weren’t actually released, she is allowed to compete in women’s events, so we can probably figure out what the results were.
3. Gussie Moran’s skimpy outfit Wimbledon in 1949
Oh my, the nerve of the woman! Watch any women’s tennis match, and you are going to see a lot of underwear. I mean, they wear skirts, no tights, and do a lot of jumping around. It’s a given, and really, we don’t particularly care. But someone had to be the first to go there, and that was an American tennis player by the name of Gussie Moran. She had her outfit for the 1949 Wimbledon tournament specially designed. The problem though, was that her skirt was short enough to reveal her underwear; her lace trimmed underwear. Photographers fought for the best positions to try and get an upskirt shot, she was accused of bringing ‘vulgarity and sin into tennis’, and even prompted a debate in parliament.
4. Rosie Ruiz cheats during the 1980 Boston Marathon
Congratulations, you’ve just won the Boston Marathon! Oh, you’re not very sweaty, are you? And you’re not even panting. Say, you’ve done well for someone who doesn’t have a runner’s physique. Oh, that’s odd, your resting heart rate is 20 beats per minute above other runners. You’ve also shaved 25 minutes off your personal best. You must have been sneaky, I mean, the women who were ahead of you earlier didn’t even see you pass them. In fact, you don’t appear in any of the photos or video, and you can’t remember any details from the section that ran through Wellesley College. Oh yeah, and a couple of guys saw you appear from the crowd right before the finish. Yeah, you’re disqualified.
5. Marion Jones doping
What’s a good way to be stripped of three gold and two bronze medals? Admit that you had been taking performance-enhancing drugs, just like track and field athlete Marion Jones. Rumours had pegged her throughout her career, but she routinely denied that she ever taken something she shouldn’t have. That was until the man who gave her the drugs admitted on national television that he had done so. Oops. There goes her career. But it gets worse. It’s one thing to just casually lie about it; it’s another to lie about it under oath. As a result, she spent six months in prison for perjury relating to her doping, as well as cheque fraud.
6. Tonya Harding taking out her main competition
How do you help your ex-wife win the 1994 US Figure Skating Championship? Kneecap her main rival. Although she played the fool at the time, Tonya Harding’s ex, and her bodyguard, conspired to injure her competition, Nancy Kerrigan, to pave the way for a Harding victory. Kerrigan came with only bruises, but it was enough to force her to withdraw from the competition, and sure enough, Harding came through to claim the win. Unfortunately for her, her ex couldn’t keep his mouth shut. She was eventually implicated in the attack. She lost her titles, received a lifetime ban, was fined US$160 000, was given 500 hours of community service and received three years probation.
7. State-sanctioned doping in East Germany
This one involves men as well, and because I set the rules here, I’m allowing myself to include it. From 1965 to 1989 East Germany doped up its athletes, with most of them not being made aware of what they were being injected with. As you do. It all ended with the fall of Communism in East Germany, but many athletes suffer from chronic health problems, both physical and mental.
8. Martina Hingis’ dally with cocaine
Martina Hingis had been on the professional tennis circuit for over 10 years when she tested positive to cocaine in 2007. She maintains she never took the stuff, but coincidentally retired from the sport at the same time.
9. Serena Williams’ big mouth
Oh dear, she just can’t learn the lesson can she? In the 2009 US Open final, she had received a warning for a racquet abuse and been made aware that another violation would carry a one point penalty. She violated again, abusing a lineswoman for calling a foot fault against her. For her opponent, Kim Clijsters, the outburst couldn’t have come at a better time. She did it on Clijsters’ match point. Not having learned her lesson, she made a distracting noise during play in 2011 US Open final against Sam Stosur. This one happened on Stosur’s break point. Serena certainly knows how to time them.
10. China competing underage gymnasts
In gymnastics, the smaller you are, the better. So how did China decide to give themselves an advantage? By entering gymnasts into the Olympics who were two to three years underage. The minimum age for competition is 16, as a way to reduce the number of injuries to gymnasts whose bodies are still developing. China was stripped of its bronze medal from the 2000 Olympics, so tried to get a little smarter, and started forging passports with incorrect dates of birth. China also removed any articles online that stated the gymnasts true ages, but thanks to cached pages, it was soon discovered what they were up to.
