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A Look Back At Some Shocking Moments In Olympics History
1968: Athletes stand for racial justice | American runners Lee Evans, Larry James and Ronnie Freeman hold their hands in a Black Power salute after the medal award ceremony at the Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico, in 1968. (Agence France Presse/Getty Images)
A Look Back At Some Shocking Moments In Olympics History.
1980: USA boycotts USSR | General view of the Opening ceremonies of the 1980 Summer Olympic Games on July 19, 1980 in Moscow, Russia. The U.S., along with over 60 other countries, boycotted the Olympics in protest of the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. (Tony Duffy/Getty Images)
1932: Olympian played professionally | Paavo Nurmi of Finland winning one of the nine gold medals during the Olympic Games on April 20, 1920, in Antwerp, Belgium. Nurmi was expelled in 1932 for having competed professionally. (Getty Images) (Getty Images/Getty Images)
1912: World record setter played pro baseball | American athlete Jim Thorpe won two gold medals for the pentathlon and decathlon at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, was stripped of his medals because he played professional baseball. (Topical Press Agency/Getty Images) (Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)
1908: Runner helped across the finish line | Dorando Pietri of Italy, on the verge of collapse, is helped across the finish line in the Marathon event of the Olympic Games in London, 24th July 1908. He was subsequently disqualified and the title was given to John Hayes of the USA. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
1972: Munich massacre | A member of the Black September Organization stands on the balcony of the Israeli Olympic team quarters on September 5, 1972, in Munich. Eight members of the terrorist group broke into the Israeli team’s quarters and killed two of them before taking the rest hostage. (Michael Montfort/Michael Ochs/Getty Images) (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
1956: “Blood in the Water” | Blood streams from the cut eye of Hungarian Ervin Zador, injured during a fight with a member of the Soviet team in the closing stages of the Hungary vs. USSR water polo match in Melbourne, Australia. (Associated Press) (AP)
1956: Equestrian events elsewhere | Due to quarantine rules in Australia, equestrian events were held in Stockholm for the 1956 Summer Olympics. (Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) (Express/Getty Images)
1936: Olympics in Hitler’s Germany | After the Nazis seized power in 1933, the U.S. and other countries debated a boycott of the games so as not to show support for the regime, according to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Ultimately, the boycott movement failed, and Adolph Hitler used the games as propaganda. (Getty Images)
1936: Olympics in Hitler’s Germany | 100 meters medallists at the 1936 Berlin Olympic games (left to right : Martinus Osendarp of Holland (bronze), Jesse Owens (1913 – 1980), of the USA (gold) and Ralph Metcalf also of the USA (silver). (Fox Photos/Getty Images)
1960: Taiwan protest | Athletes from Taiwan protest having to march under the name Republic of China. (Douglas Miller/Keystone/Getty Images)
1976: Montreal has a hard time | The Olympic flame during the opening ceremony of the 1976 Montreal Olympics at the Olympic Stadium, July 17, 1976. Montreal had huge cost overruns and took on massive amounts of debt due to the games. It was also a frantic race for facilities to be completed on time and it was reported that all of the construction debris had not been cleared by the time the games began. (Tony Duffy/Getty Images) (Tony Duffy/Getty Images)
1984: Barefoot runner bests favorite | Zola Budd, who famously ran barefoot, of Great Britain and Mary Decker of the USA lead the field during the 3000m final at the Summer Olympic Games shortly before the two collided and Decker withdrew. (Steve Powell/Allsport/Getty Images)
1988: Record smasher loses medal | A day after smashing the world record in the 100 meters final in Seoul, Ben Johnson of Canada tested positive for steroids and was stripped of his medal. (Steve Powell/Allsport/Getty Images)
1984: Barefoot runner bests favorite | Mary Decker is led away after her accidental clash with Zola Budd and consequent withdrawal from the 3000 meters final at the Los Angeles Olympics. (Tony Duffy/Allsport/Getty Images )
1988: Greg Louganis’ head injury | Greg Louganis before attempting a dive in the men’s spring board competition during the 1988 Summer Olympic Games held in Seoul, South Korea. After hitting his head on the board, Louganis returned 30 minutes later to achieve the highest score in the round. Louganis’ controversy actually came years after the injury when it was revealed that he did not disclose his HIV-positive status at the time of the games. The concern came from his bleeding in the pool and risk of infection to other athletes, which was so low there are no documented cases of infection in that manner as of 2021. (Pascal Rondeau/Allsport/Getty Images)
1992: Michael Jordan covers up Reebok | Michael Jordan and teammates covered the U.S. Olympic team’s sponsor’s logo in apparent allegiance to Nike. (Mike Powell/Getty Images)