Worst Dramas In Winter Olympic History Part 2

The Olympic Games go way back, so it’s not surprising that various famous scandals have come to light. In case of an incident, the country the athletes represent gets dragged through the mud as well. Also, the Internet never forgets, so they have to be extra careful of how they behave at the Olympics. Let’s see some of the worst dramas in Winter Olympic history! 

The Mysterious Shadow 

At the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, the alpine skier Jean-Claude Killy was the biggest star. The French favorite won gold medals in all three events, downhill, giant slalom, and slalom. Though in the latter event, the gold medal did not come easily. Killy’s biggest rival, the Austrian Karl Schranz, suddenly stopped on the track and later said that he saw a mysterious figure in black clothes crossing the track, that’s why he stopped. Three witnesses confirmed his claim, so the judges granted Schranz’s request to try again. In the new round, he performed better than Killy, winning the gold medal.

However, he could be happy for about two hours because, by this time, the judges found that he had already missed two gates on the slope before he saw the black shadow. The gold medal thus went to Killy, while Schranz was disqualified. According to the Austrians, the French were behind this, and the dark figure might have been someone whose job was to disturb Schranz. The French retaliated by saying that only the Austrian skier came up with the whole thing when he noticed that he had missed two gates.

According to online sportsbook sites in Germany, Schranz noticed a dark shadow moving down the track that he tried to avoid, so he stopped. The shadow he saw might have been a judge or another skier. Schranz said that if he missed two gates, it could only be because that dark shadow completely hypnotized him. Well, whatever the truth is, the Austrians were outraged, not letting this incident go, so the shadow figure caused one of the worst dramas in Winter Olympic history!

Worst Dramas in Winter Olympic History – GDR 

Let’s stay in Grenoble because there were unexpected dramas, but not only on the ski slopes. For example, in the women’s luge competition, something happened that perhaps has never happened before or since and certainly won’t happen again. East German athletes dominated the women’s luge competition after the first round. Defending champion Ortrun Enderlein was in the first place, and her two compatriots, Anna-Maria Müller and Angela Knösel were in second and fourth place. 

However, while the girls were racing on the slope, the coaching staff was not wasting any time either. They secretly heated the blades of the metal runners, which was a completely illegal move. When the referee heard the report, he immediately stepped to the sled of the GDR competitor and put his hand on the equipment. Of course, it was warm. The East Germans protested in vain and tried to explain that it was a mistake, but all three of their competitors were disqualified. Cheating always creates drama!

The Russian Doping Scandal

It would be a mistake to judge all Russian athletes, but what happened at the 2014 Sochi Games was not favorable for the perception of the country and its athletes. Although the scandal is connected to Sochi, the news came to light only in 2016. The former head of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, Grigory Rodchenko, claimed that the state-funded and organized doping program at the Olympics. The Russians played big! Secret agents of the Federal Security Service diligently hid or even changed the samples given by the Olympic athletes. 

Several Russian medalists failed the subsequent examinations and took away a total of ten Sochi medals from the country. So they also lost first place in the medal table. However, it was a much bigger problem that Russia was excluded from the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, and the athletes who were able to attend were not allowed to compete under the Russian flag.

According to online sportsbook sites in Germany, Rodchenko left the country out of fear of retribution. To top it all off, Russia did not take responsibility for the sponsored doping program and even harassed Rodchenko’s family. 

Worst Dramas in Winter Olympics

In the world of figure skating competitions, as in almost all sports based on scoring systems, competitors often think their performance was unfairly scored. However, at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, the Canadian competitors had reason to feel that way.

The Canadian judge Jean Senft secretly recorded his conversation with his Ukrainian colleague, Yuri Balkov, during which Balkov offered his points to the Canadians if Senft did the same with the Ukrainians. 

After one of the worst dramas in Winter Olympic history came to light, people suspected that the top three places had been decided before the competition. In any case, even though many experts believed that the Canadian duo of Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz were the tournament favorites, they finished in fourth place. They suspended Balkov for a year, while Senft got only half a year. 

The Canadian judge was quite upset about the fraud, or more precisely, that it got exposed. After what happened, Dick Pound, the vice-president of the IOC at the time, demanded to cancel ice dancing from the Olympic program, but luckily this did not happen, instead, they tried to reform the scoring system. Obviously, people don’t take it well when athletes cheat, especially at the biggest sporting event! When it comes to the Olympics, you can always find special bets at 22Bet Sportsbook!

Another Figure Skating Scandal

Four years after the last Winter Olympics, the changes did not seem to have a serious impact on the sport. At least based on the fact that at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, something similar happened.  The incident involved a Canadian pair again, but the judges decided in their favor this time. In the pairs skating competition, it seemed that the Canadian Jamie Salé and David Pelletier would be the winners, but in the end, the Russian duo won the gold medal. 

In itself, it does not seem suspicious. However, shortly after announcing the results, the French judge, Marie-Reine Le Gougne, came forward claiming that the president of the French Skating Federation, Didier Gailhaguet, had instructed her to give high points to the Russian pair.

Presumably, there was an agreement on returning the favor. All in all, the competition ended with French gold and Russian silver medals. After Le Gougne exposed the fraud, the ISU immediately stepped in. They suspended the French judge while the Canadians won the gold.

The Russian pair could also keep their first place, so it was an unexpected and extraordinary competition in the history of the Olympics. As always, cheating scandals are among the worst dramas in Winter Olympic history! Check out the odds of another figure skating scandal at 22Bet Sportsbook!

Worst Dramas in Winter Olympic History

Experts in marketing say that bad advertising is still an advertisement. However, Hungary probably hoped for a different kind of publicity. At the 2018 PyeongChang Games, there was a Hungarian competitor in ski acrobatics, which was a historic moment.

She was the first athlete to compete in this sport from this country at the Olympics. The Hungarian American, Elizabeth Swaney, with dual citizenship, represented Hungary. The Hungarian Ski Association later admitted never seeing her compete in ski acrobatics. That is why her performance on the track came as a shock.

Elizabeth spent the available one-minute sliding to and for during the halfpipe competition without performing or trying to show any tricks. While Eric the Eel at least tried to swim, or Eddie the Eagle still showed something the judges could take seriously.

However, this lady showed skills anyone could develop after a three-day-long ski camp. In the end, she finished last, surprise-surprise, with 31,4 points. The Danish girl finishing before her at least attempted to perform tricks, so she got 45 points. Check out more of the funniest Olympic fails!

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