Spending time at home can result in many interesting discoveries. Anything from celebrity break-ups to bet365 nj bonus code could happen while you browse the Internet. But if you have particular interests like sports, you are likely to find the different amusing facts about a favorite athlete or learn a fun fact about the history of the sport you like. That was how we bumped into numerous cases of fraud and deceit in the swimming world. A sport that seems harmless enough (not counting water polo) for each individual swimmer is on her or his own, doing the best they can. But there is a darker and more disturbing side to this story.
Like in any other sport or life in general, there are those individuals who do not care about winning fair and square. For those individuals winning is the only option, regardless of the means used to get to it. Maybe, in the world of business, this type of individual would be praised and welcome. And there are others who make the wrong decisions unrelated to winning, but that cost them their good name. Regardless of the gender, an athlete that is marked by such an event will most likely be obliged to find a different career. So, if you are turning a sport into your career, better think twice before making a decision that you can’t come back from.
For the purpose of preventing anyone from making these mistakes, we have compiled a list of the greatest scandals in the swimming world that have left a permanent shadow on some athletes, and sometimes even entire teams.
Doping Athletes For Better Performance
Even though the use of illegal performance boosters has been present among athletes for a long time, it still comes as a great surprise (and disappointment) when a new case occurs. One such case was the East German Women’s Swimming Team. Although most of the athletes were unaware of what was being done to them, they still managed to take home over 30 gold Olympic medals over the course of twenty years. The entire thing was revealed to the public when East Germany collapsed and doping documents were discovered.
Another case is the Chinese Women’s Swim Team, who became a rising star in the 1992 Olympic Games by winning four gold medals. However, the team only became suspicious in the 1994 Olympics, after winning 12 gold medals. The athletes were tested soon afterward and the results showed that they were positive for dihydrotestosterone.
Cases like these happened also among individual swimmers, like Michelle Smith de Bruin from Ireland. She was banned from any competitions in 1998 and after her appeal was denied she decided to retire altogether.
Flag Over Gold
In 1964, an Australian named Dawn Fraser won her third gold medal for the 100 freestyle. At the time, Fraser was the only one who managed to win three gold medals from the same event at three consecutive Olympic Games. One late night she decided to steal a Japanese flag from the Emperor’s Palace. Even though she apologized for her actions, she was still severely punished, by exclusion from any swimming event for 10 years. However, this athlete decided it was the best that she retired.