Major sporting events are always accompanied by conflicts. This is also true for the Olympic Games.

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Fencer Boris Onishchenko

In 1976, the summer Olympics were held in sunny Montreal, and considering that the 1970s did not bring significant progress in the field of metal detectors, X-ray machines, and video cameras, there was a rather ‘curious’ incident. 

Boris Onishchenko, a fencer from the USSR, came out for a bout against a British athlete. In the middle of the fight, a special light bulb on the British fencer’s suit lit up, indicating that Onishchenko had struck a blow. However, the British coaches unanimously claimed that there was no contact between the rapier and the suit and demanded to cancel the result of the fight, as well as to check Boris for cheating.

And indeed, after a thorough inspection of the Soviet athlete’s rapier, a hidden device with a button embedded in the hilt was found. When pressed, it was possible to generate electrical impulses that lit up the lights on the opponents’ suits without direct contact. As a result, Onishchenko was disqualified, and control of sports weapons was significantly tightened.

Luge rider Ortrun Enderlein

But if you think that Onishchenko was the only one who used technological advances and scientific knowledge to his advantage, you are sorely mistaken. Ortrun Enderlein, an East German tobogganist, won the gold medal at the 1968 Grenoble Olympics with confidence. Her compatriots didn’t falter either, finishing second and fourth.

The East German team gave themselves away with their excessive anxiety when getting to the start line and their eagerness to quickly put their sleds away after completing the course. It was only a matter of time before their cheating was exposed.
It turned out that before the start, the East German athletes had heated up the sled runners with chemicals to significantly reduce friction with the ice. As a result, their speed increased, which contributed to their victory. However, this was only a temporary victory: all those involved in the chemical manipulation were immediately disqualified.

An attempt to physically eliminate a rival

Just a month before the start of the 1994 Winter Olympics in Norway, an unpleasant and criminal incident took place in the USA concerning the upcoming competitions. At that time, a real feud broke out between figure skaters Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan. The conflict between them became so serious that Toni could not accept the fact that Nancy won a silver medal at the local championship, while Harding herself made the mistake of not even getting a bronze medal, and found herself in the shadows before such an important competition for her.

Unwilling to leave things as they were, Toni turned to her ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, to organise an attack on Nancy. On January 6, 1994, near the Cobo Arena in Detroit, Jeff waited for Nancy and gave her several serious blows with a baton, thus eliminating her from the national team. However, Toni was not able to go to the Olympics either, as the crime was quickly uncovered and she was given severe sentences, including a lifetime disqualification.

Marathon by car

Once upon a time, when there were no multiple TV cameras, global positioning systems, or an army of observers, many athletes at the Olympics were trusted ‘on their word’. In 1904, at the St. Louis Olympics, an amusing incident happened to Fred Lortz, an American marathon runner. At the 15th kilometre of the distance, he got tired due to deteriorating weather conditions, but instead of leaving the track, he decided to catch a hitchhiker and run 30 kilometres in warmth and comfort.

Shortly before the finish line, Lorz got out of the car and, as if nothing had happened, rushed as hard as he could to the finish line. It took the judges only half an hour to expose his deception, after which Fred was disqualified for life. A year later, however, he was forgiven, and without any tricks, he was able to win the Boston Marathon.