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Top 3 Biggest Cheaters in Olympics History That Will Leave You Shell-Shocked
Sports see many cheaters but we have witnessed many in the Olympics, and here are some of them.
![Olympic Rings [Credit-X]](https://www.pinkvilla.com/images/2024-08/667412774_olympic-rings-credit-x.jpg "Olympic Rings [Credit-X]")
The Olympics are about "the true spirit of sportsmanship" and honor some of the greatest and most successful athletes ever. Unfortunately, not all champions have achieved success fairly and legally, since cheating in the Olympics (and Winter Olympics) is almost as ancient as the games themselves.
Take a look at three of the most prominent incidents of Olympic cheating:
3. Madeline and Margaret de Jesus
Madeline and Margaret de Jesus, Puerto Rican twins, sought to fool the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics in a Hollywood-style stunt.
When Madeline injured herself while participating in the long jump, she sent her identical twin sister Margaret to participate in the 4x400-meter relay.
When the chief coach of the Puerto Rican Olympic team found out what they had done, he removed the whole squad from the competition.
2. Nancy Kerrigan gets attacked
Nancy Kerrigan, an Olympic figure skater, was attacked at the United States Figure Skating Championships on January 6, 1994.
An unknown assailant assaulted Kerrigan as she left skating practice, beating her with a metal pipe or baton, aiming for the knee on her landing leg, in an apparent effort to put her out of the competition.
On January 12, The Oregonian reported that the FBI was looking into whether one of Kerrigan's competitors, Portland-based figure skater Tonya Harding, was related to the men authorities suspected of planning the attack.
The FBI was looking into charges that Harding's bodyguard, Shawn Eckardt, and her then-husband, Jeff Gillooly, planned the attack on Kerrigan.
It became one of the most publicized sports scandals of the 1990s, and interest in the case continues to this day.
1. Boris Onishchenko uses a modified épée
Boris Onishchenko, a Ukrainian athlete, was a favorite to win a medal in the pentathlon at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. As a skilled fencer, he was not anticipated to struggle in the fencing element of the tournament.
However, controversy began when the British team discovered that he had been awarded a point despite failing to contact his opponent. (The swords were electronic and designed to record a point whenever an opponent was struck.)
It was then revealed that his épée had been changed, allowing Onishchenko to click a button and fraudulently record a hit. With his scheme failing, Onishchenko was kicked out of the Games.
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