The over-century-long history of modern Olympism is filled with strange, bizarre, scandalous, or simply surprising events. Let's start with the latter – the 2004 Olympics in Athens were actually the third held in that city, not the second as commonly believed. The second Athens Olympics took place in 1906, ten years after the first ones. They were fully supported by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and introduced many innovations that later became standard Olympic elements.
The Olympics that the IOC Erased
For the first time, there was an official opening ceremony with athletes marching under their national flags. The first official closing ceremony was also held. Additionally, there was an Olympic village where all athletes stayed. For the first time, athletes registered through their national Olympic committees. The ceremony also included raising the national flags of medalists during the award ceremonies.
The 1906 Olympics, known as the Intercalated Games, were, according to historians, legitimate Olympic Games. The IOC organized them under the pressure of the Greeks, who, after the successful 1896 Games, wanted every Olympics to be held in Athens. The then IOC president and founder of the modern Olympic Games, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, disagreed, believing that the Games should "travel" around the world to gain new supporters.
Ultimately, even de Coubertin gave in to the Greeks' enthusiasm and agreed that the Games would be held every two years. These biennial Games, the Intercalated Games, were to be permanently held in Athens. While the 1906 Games were very successful, the idea ended there. The Intercalated Games were not held in 1910 due to political tensions in the Balkans. In 1914, World War I broke out, leaving the 1906 Athens Games a one-time event.
In 1949, a three-member IOC commission, led by future president Avery Brundage, ruled that the 1906 Games were unofficial and would no longer be recognized by the IOC. Historians disagree, arguing that the 1906 event was organized under IOC patronage and followed Olympic protocol. Additionally, it was more efficiently organized and adhered to the rules better than the 1900 Paris and 1904 St. Louis Games, which had such a chaotic program that many participants didn't know they were Olympians until much later, and some received their medals weeks after the competition ended.
The Match That Led Fans to Attack the German Consulate
Fast forward three decades to the 1936 Berlin Olympics, held under the shadow of the swastika. One of the biggest scandals occurred on the football field. In a quarterfinal match, favored Austria faced Peru. The South Americans were losing 0-2 but managed to equalize in the last fifteen minutes. In overtime, Peru scored five goals, but only two were counted, still enough for a 4-2 victory. The Austrians protested, claiming they were intimidated by Peruvian fans who allegedly stormed the field, with one fan supposedly brandishing a gun. The appeals committee accepted the Austrian protest without hearing the Peruvians, who arrived late for the hearing. The quarterfinal was to be replayed, but this decision outraged the Peruvians so much that their entire Olympic committee withdrew from the Games in protest, followed by Colombia in solidarity.
Meanwhile, in Lima, demonstrators threw stones at the German consulate. German diplomats complained to President Oscar Benavides, claiming they were innocent as the tournament was run by the International Football Federation, not the hosts. Benavides then blamed communists, not football fans, for the attack on the consulate.
This wasn't the only major scandal in the football tournament in Berlin. In the round of 16, Italy played the USA. Achille Piccini fouled two opponents so badly that they couldn't continue, yet when the German referee Carl Weingartner tried to expel him, the Italians restrained him and forced him to reverse his decision. Piccini finished the match as if nothing happened, and Italy won 1-0.
Italy went on to win gold, defeating Austria 2-1 in the final. Austria had beaten Poland 3-1 in the semifinal, with Poland finishing fourth after losing the bronze match 2-3 to Norway. The Germans, despite the presence of Hitler and other Nazi leaders, lost 0-2 to Norway in the quarterfinals.
Hot-Tempered Basketball Players: Fights in Every Game
Uruguay's basketball team made history with their hot-headedness. In the quarterfinals of the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, they played France. A minute before the end, Uruguay, down to three players due to fouls, equalized the score. The referee Vincent Farrell was attacked by the entire team despite awarding them the points. In the next play, France scored the winning points, and Uruguay attacked Farrell again, who was eventually carried off the court. Two Uruguayan players were banned for the rest of the tournament.
Uruguay managed to win against Bulgaria and Argentina to reach the semifinals, where they lost to the USSR 57-61, requiring medical aid for three Soviet players. They then faced Argentina for bronze, ending in a massive brawl involving 25 people. Uruguay finished with four players and Argentina with three, with Uruguay winning 68-59.
Paralyzed Dane Wins a Medal
Historian David Wallechinsky called this moment one of the most moving in Olympic history. Gold medalist Henri Saint Cyr from Sweden helped the paralyzed from the waist down Lis Hartel from Denmark onto the podium. This moment crowned the incredible story of Hartel.
In September 1944, 23-year-old Hartel woke up with severe headaches and neck stiffness, which progressively paralyzed her. Diagnosed with polio, the top equestrian athlete fought for her health and that of her unborn child. She gradually regained some mobility and gave birth to a healthy daughter. Eight months later, she could walk with crutches and eventually returned to equestrian sports, becoming the Scandinavian champion in dressage three years later.
In 1952, she made the Danish Olympic team, making history as the first non-military participants in equestrian events. Despite needing help mounting and dismounting her horse, Hartel won silver, repeating this success in 1956 in Stockholm (the equestrian events were held separately due to Australia's strict quarantine laws).
Scandalous Enough to Make You Vomit: The Undefeated Park
Boxer Park Si-Hun is one of the most undeserved gold medalists in Olympic history. His matches in the 1988 Seoul Games were filled with referee decisions favoring him. The final against Roy Jones Jr. was the most notorious.
In his second-round match against Sudan's Abdullah Ramadan, Park was declared the winner despite committing illegal hits, causing his opponent to forfeit. Referee Ronald Mark Gregor was indecisive and consulted with others, leading to Park's controversial victory.
In the next round, Park fought Torsten Schmitz from East Germany. Despite appearing to lose, the judges unanimously declared Park the winner, angering the Germans. In the quarterfinals against Italy's Vincenzo Nardiello, Park again won controversially, causing Nardiello to collapse in despair after the decision.
In the semifinals, Park beat Canada's Raymond Downey unanimously. Park's controversial victories earned him the nickname "undefeatable." His final opponent was the 19-year-old Roy Jones Jr., a prodigy compared to boxing legends Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard.
Despite Jones landing 86 punches to Park's 32, the judges from Uganda, Morocco, and Uruguay awarded Park the victory. Witnesses called it the most unjust decision in boxing history, with "L'Equipe" calling it "scandalous enough to make you vomit."
Even Park, through a translator, apologized to Jones, admitting he lost the fight. Jones was consoled with the Barker Trophy for the best Olympic boxer. The Seoul scandals led to a revolution in amateur boxing judging, introducing a computerized system requiring at least three judges to register a punch.
In 1997, the IOC investigated the Park fights but found no evidence of corruption. Roy Jones Jr. later became a professional champion in four weight categories.
Boxing has been rife with scandals in the Olympics, with the IOC threatening to drop the sport after the 2016 Rio controversies. Following a quarterfinal robbery in the flyweight division, Irishman Michael Conlan wrote to Russian President Vladimir Putin on social media: "Hey Vladimir, how much did it cost you?"
The Most Bizarre Olympic Final
In Olympic history, there was a final with only one runner. In the 1908 London Olympics, Wyndham Halswelle, a 26-year-old British Army lieutenant and Boer War veteran, was the favorite. In the semifinal, he set an Olympic record of 48.4 seconds. His final opponents were Americans William Robbins, John Baxter Taylor, and John Carpenter. Fearing a team strategy to block Halswelle, British officials stationed referees every 20 meters.
Their suspicions were correct. Robbins led the race but faltered halfway. Carpenter and Halswelle overtook him, but Carpenter blocked Halswelle's path, leading the referees to declare a foul and stop the race. After a heated argument, Carpenter was disqualified, and the final was rescheduled without him. The other Americans boycotted, leaving Halswelle to run alone and win gold. Silver and bronze were not awarded.
Disgusted, Halswelle left sports for a military career, dying in World War I on March 31, 1915.
World Federation Chief Couldn’t Stand the Shame
A different scandal occurred at the 2012 London Olympics. Eight female badminton players were disqualified after group stage matches for deliberately trying to lose. This started with the Danish pair Christinna Pedersen/Kamilla Rytter Juhl defeating China's Tian Qing/Zhao Yunlei, disrupting the Chinese plan for two medals. China's Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang, to avoid facing their compatriots early, tried to lose to South Korea’s Jung Kyung Eun and Kim Ha Na. The match was so poorly played that it angered spectators and officials. The main referee issued black cards, meaning disqualification, but coaches intervened, and the match continued.
The Badminton World Federation disqualified the four pairs for not "using best efforts" and "conducting themselves in a manner that is clearly abusive or detrimental to the sport." Ultimately, Tian and Zhao won gold, with Russian pair Valeria Sorokina and Nina Vislova winning bronze due to the disqualifications.
Germany’s Revenge for Munich
When Germany’s field hockey team faced Pakistan in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics final, they saw a banner reading, "Pakistan avenges Munich." This referred to the 1972 Olympics, where Germany won gold, breaking the 44-year dominance of India and Pakistan.
The final minutes and aftermath were chaotic. Pakistani fans and officials, angered by the referee's decision to award Germany the game-winning goal, stormed the field and attacked officials. Players destroyed the locker room, and during the medal ceremony, the Pakistan team refused to wear their silver medals and turned their backs during the German anthem.
All 11 Pakistani players were banned from international competitions, though appeals reduced the bans to two years for the national team and eight years for the Olympics.
Twelve years later, Pakistan won revenge, defeating Germany 2-1 in overtime to reclaim Olympic gold.
Soviet Disgrace in Pentathlon
Boris Onishchenko, a pentathlon star with numerous medals, resorted to cheating in his final Olympic appearance in 1976. During the fencing event, he used a sword rigged with a hidden button to falsely register hits. After British opponents noticed, an investigation revealed the modified weapon, leading to Onishchenko's immediate expulsion and a lifetime ban.
Back home, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev personally reprimanded him, stripped him of his rank and medals, fined him 5,000 rubles, and Onishchenko ended up working as a taxi driver in Kyiv.
The first Olympic doping scandal also occurred in pentathlon, with Sweden’s Hans-Gunnar Liljenvall in 1968, who lost his team’s bronze medal due to excessive alcohol intake before shooting.
Conclusion
These stories illustrate the unpredictable, sometimes scandalous, and often surprising nature of Olympic history. From controversial victories and bizarre incidents to moments of great sportsmanship, the Games have seen it all.
