Biggest sports scandals
Barry Bonds may be the latest on the hot seat, but he's hardly the only super athlete to find himself in the "Hall of Shame." Here are some of the biggest scandals that rocked the sporting world.
Barry Bonds The all-time MLB home run king was found guilty of obstruction of justice, and the jury failed to reach a verdict on three other counts related to lying to a grand jury about taking steroids and human growth hormones.
Tiger Woods Tiger got his game on early but golf’s golden boy lost his luster when news leaked of his multiple affairs. He took time off from the game, was dropped by some major sponsors, and is now struggling to get his edge back.
Kobe Bryant One of this team’s star players, Bryant's popularity took a major hit when a hotel employee accused him of sexual assault in 2003. The media scrutiny saw him lose sponsors, but his wife stayed by his side and a civil suit was settled out of court.
Pete Rose In 1989, Rose was accused of gambling and betting on baseball games, and there was speculation that he was betting against his own team. He came clean about the accusations in 2004 and was banned from Major League Baseball.
Tonya Harding & Nancy Kerrigan It was the cry heard around the world: Nancy Kerrigan in tears after someonehit her in the knee while practicing at the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. It was discovered that skating rival Tonya Harding’sex-husband and a friend plotted the attack. Harding was banned from professional skating.
Olympic Committee bribe In 2003, 10 members of the International Olympic Committee resigned or were expelled and another 10 were charged with taking bribes from host city representatives competing for the 2002 Winter Games. Which present day politician took over the disgraced Salt Lake Organizing Committee?
Jim Thorpe Olympic scandal He won two gold medals in the 1912 Olympic Games but the IOC later stripped him of both when it was discovered that Thorpe had played professionally in violation of Olympic rules. His medals were reinstated in 1983, 30 years after his death.
1919 Black Sox Scandal In baseball’s worst scandal, eight players from the American League champion White Sox conspired to throw World Series games for cash. Called the Black Sox because the owner was so cheap he would not wash the team’s uniforms, none of the eight men ever played in Major League Baseball again.
University of Minnesota cheating scandal
Can there be anything worse than a crooked Gopher? Players were not taking tests in one of the worst cases of academic fraud in 20 years.
NCAA point shaving scandal It gave college basketball a black eye in the early '50s, with seven schools implicated in the point-shaving affair. Four of the schools were in the same metropolitan area.
Ben Johnson
Johnson won two Olympic medals and set world records for speed, but the Canadian sprinter's gold medal was rescinded and his '87 and '88 world records were disqualified due to doping.
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