The Worst Dramas In Winter Olympic History

Besides the glorious moments, sports have no shortage of scandals. Either their competitive spirit goes too far, take something illegal, or be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Since sports and competitions are full of unexpected moments, surely there will be more to add to the worst drama in Winter Olympic history!

The Worst Drama in Winter Olympic History!

There cannot be a list of the biggest scandals in the history of the Winter Olympics without the quite bizarre rivalry between Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan. The two American figure skaters, at the peak of their careers, were preparing for the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer when Nancy Kerrigan was attacked.

She was severely abused by unknown attackers after one of the practices for the American championship. They hit her leg with an iron pipe to do as much damage as possible. However, the attack that shocked the sports world took a really shocking turn only four days later. Harding’s bodyguard, Shawn Eckhardt, admitted to the police that he and his ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, who had trouble with the law several times due to domestic violence, were behind the incident.

They hired two guys, Shane Stunt and Derrick Smith, to beat up Kerrigan enough to prevent her from competing in Lillehammer, thus securing Harding’s place in the Olympics.

Harding denied knowing what her ex and bodyguard planned, but Gillooly, hoping for a better sentence, testified that Harding did know about the attack, so the US Olympic Committee launched an investigation against her.

Shocking Revelations

However, she still traveled to Lillehammer, as did the recovered Kerrigan. The attack happened on January 6, 1994, and the Games began on February 12. The latter won a silver medal, while the former finished eighth.

As a result of one of the first dramas in the Winter Olympics, Harding had to answer for what happened in court and eventually got away with a $100,000 fine and a three-year suspended prison sentence. However, the US Skating Association banned her from competing forever, so she switched sports and became a professional boxer, winning three of six matches.

 It is interesting that Kerrigan did not continue her career after the Lillehammer Olympics either. She showed up in numerous skating and TV shows. They sometimes appear in bets at Bovada Sportsbook, but the Harding-Kerrigan story has inspired several film producers since 1994. The most intriguing movie is “I, Tonya”, with Margot Robbie as the leading actress. Check out Harding’s side of the story too, at online sportsbook sites in the US, as there are two sides to the same coin. 

A Tragic Incident 

Unfortunately, fatal accidents occur in sports sometimes. After the tragedy, many pondered what happened for a long time, playing with what-ifs, but even today, no one knows what would have happened if it had not been one of the mildest winters in the Austrian Alps for decades. However, it was, and the military had to deliver 25,000 tons of snow to the otherwise snow-covered slopes around Innsbruck so they could hold the Olympic alpine skiing competitions.

Among the competitors was the six-person Australian team, including the 19-year-old Ross Milne, who was arguably the best skier among them. Growing up on a tobacco farm in Victoria, Milne was passionate about sports, water skiing, tennis, and horse riding.

However, he was serious about skiing. The young skier spent the year before the Olympics in Europe, so Milne could compete with the best and improve. According to his teammates, he was a very mature and responsible guy, differing from his hot-headed peers.

On the day of the competition, the track could be called anything but suitable for an Olympic ski contest. Although the slope on Patscherkofel was very fast, the skiers were not protected by anything. Not only was there no snow along the track, which could have softened the falls, but stones and tree branches were lying and sticking out from everywhere. This could be particularly dangerous for less skilled skiers. Click on the link to read our article about other tragic deaths in sports!

The Worst Dramas in Winter Olympic History

On January 25, Milne went to train on the track with two of his teammates. The accident happened on a slower, seemingly less dangerous, but almost entirely invisible section of the slope. The young Australian realized too late that there was a group of skiers in front of him because of an ascent. He tried to avoid them at a speed of 60-70 km/h but lost control of his skis and crashed into a tree next to the track. He was still alive on the way to the hospital but died of his injuries soon after.

The organizers never admitted that they had made a mistake in anything, like allowing nearly 100 skiers on the track at the same time in the first practice. Neither did the Australian Olympic Committee stand up for its athlete. The organizers tried to sweep one of the worst dramas in Winter Olympic history under the rug. As if they tried to pretend like it never happened. Not to mention, Milne’s family received no compensation in any way. 

Lucky Fortuna

At the 1972 Winter Olympics, ski jumping was already the most popular event the scoring was not as complex as today. Nowadays, judges use all kinds of compensation points during the competition. However, at the Sapporo Games, they only judged the length and execution of the jump. It caused unexpected results and a minor scandal during the competition. The Japanese expected further wins because, after the normal hill, where three Japanese competitors could stand on the podium, they also aimed for the same at the large hill. 

The Poles did not have such bold plans, especially not the young, only 19-year-old Wojciech Fortuna. The first time he got lucky at the Olympics was when he joined the Polish team at the last minute. The best result of his short career up to that point was 18th place at one of the stations of the Four Hills Tournament. So, he had no big hopes, even though he was by far the best in the team, finishing in 6th place on the normal hill.

However, on the day of the race on the large hill, the wind, which changed direction and strength back and forth, made a lot of noise. Even the best jumpers couldn’t get over 100 meters in the tailwind that literally pushed them to the ground. While lucky Fortuna, the name obliges, got a headwind during his jump, flying 111 meters, which shocked everybody.

Especially the tournament favorites. The German and Czechoslovak judges interrupted the competition, wanting to nullify the whole contest and force everyone to jump again. It was when one of the worst dramas in Winter Olympic history started.

How the Worst Dramas in Winter Olympic History Ended

Some were convinced that Fortuna could jump that well since he finished sixth on the normal hill, while others weren’t. In the end, the Japanese judge decided, hoping that Kasaja Yukio, who won the gold medal on the normal hill, could do better in the second round, to hold another round.

In the second jump, Fortuna only reached 87.5 meters. However, due to his incredible first jump, he was able to keep his advantage against Switzerland’s Walter Steiner by zero-point-one point and the bronze medalist Rainer Schmidt by zero-point-six.

This is how a competitor of average ability won the closest finish in the history of Olympic ski jumping. Of course, it was a huge deal back then, especially for Japanese athletes, so many were outraged. Fortuna never made it a secret how surprised he was by the results, but he never mentioned the lucky circumstances. He claimed he knew he had a big jump in him.

However, the real drama started after the Olympics, when Fortuna let sudden fame get to his head. According to online sportsbook sites in the US, he hit rock bottom but managed to pull himself together. He even sold his Olympic medal for $50,000, giving the money to athletes with spinal injuries.

When the Athletes Went to Jail

Even though they were all innocent, their only “crime” was competing in the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. The committee decided to build the future accommodation of the Olympians so that it could later be used as a prison. More precisely, they built a prison where the athletes had their accommodations for a few weeks.

That was probably the most practical decision ever! Although people were shocked and several teams refused to move there, but in the end, the majority ended up there anyway. 

The double rooms behind the massive iron doors were ten square meters. The four-bed rooms were slightly bigger, and the lucky ones even had a small window two and a half meters high. What a depressing sight it must have been. The former Olympic “village” Ray Brook is still operating as a federal prison for men. Even though it sounds like a funny story today, most fans and athletes couldn’t find humor in their cells!

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