Adults sometimes tell children: Cheaters never win. This, of course, is terribly untrue. They always win because they cheat. If they get caught, they can face consequences; it's the same as committing a crime. Crime never pays off unless you get away with it. But we try to keep children on the right path, so you get the idea.
In sports, doping is considered one of the most egregious forms of cheating. Using substances that give you an advantage over other players is blatant cheating. Let's take a look at the 10 most incredible doping scandals.
10. Most Tour de France winners have been found guilty of doping.
Thanks to Lance Armstrong, the whole world learned about doping at the Tour de France. But for those who had never followed cycling, and the Tour in particular, it might have come as a shock. Doping in cycling? Surely that's an absurd outlier, isn't it? How often can this happen? The answer is always. It always happens at the Tour de France, and always has.
Almost every Tour de France winner has been guilty of doping at some point in their career. As of 2022, 42 Tour de France winners over the previous 55 years were found to have been guilty of doping at some point. That's more than 751,000 winners. That's a lot of doping.
In recent years, the Tour has made an effort to restore order, and scandals have become fewer. Of course, this is due to the increased attention, and it's hard to say whether anything would have changed if Armstrong hadn't cycled too close to the sun.
In recent years, the Tour has made an effort to restore order, and scandals have become fewer. Of course, this is due to the increased attention, and it's hard to say whether anything would have changed if Armstrong hadn't cycled too close to the sun.
9. A bodybuilding competition in Belgium was cancelled when everyone fled anti-doping tests.
Bodybuilders have long been associated with doping thanks to the steroid stereotype that still permeates the sport. This isn't necessarily undeserved, as there have been several scandals over the years involving bodybuilders caught using steroids and other muscle-building products, but it has painted the entire industry with the same brush.
Breaking free of stigma, as the Tour de France is attempting to do, is no easy feat. And stories like this one don't make it any easier. In 2009, a bodybuilding competition in Belgium was canceled due to an unexpected visit from anti-doping officials, and every participant literally grabbed their belongings and fled.
The event was a championship competition, with 20 participants registered and ready to compete. The fact that every single one of them withdrew upon the arrival of the officials likely disappointed all the fans in attendance.
Officials noted that the people who organize such competitions never actually invited them to the event, so they had to make surprise visits. Moreover, the event was actually held in the Netherlands, which they believed was done specifically to prevent Belgian anti-doping officials from participating. Obviously, this didn't work, and the officials were forced to conclude, as most reasonable people would, that everyone was using something illegal.
8. Russia secretly swapped urine at the Olympics
Russia has a somewhat chequered history when it comes to the Olympics, as they don't always play fair. In 2019, Russia was banned from the Olympics for four years due to doping scandals, though some Russian athletes still had workarounds. So what exactly were they doing so egregiously that it was banned nationwide?
Let's return to the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Four years ago, the country was doing relatively poorly, so they needed to up their game. This could have meant having higher-level athletes, but in reality, it meant smuggling urine through mouse holes.
Officials drilled a hole in the wall of the anti-doping lab and replaced the urine samples of their drug-using athletes with clean ones so they could pass tests. The Russians won 33 medals. Well done, drugs!
The former head of the anti-doping agency helped expose this scheme, and Russia, naturally, denied any state-sponsored doping. However, the country and its athletes are constantly under investigation, with five different Olympic Games since 2014 being scrutinized. One athlete claimed that approximately 991,300 Olympians are doping.
Russia has been banned not only from the Olympics but also from international track and field competitions. Every time they're given the opportunity to compete at any level, new information emerges about falsified data and laboratory samples. As if they couldn't help but do so now.
7. More than 50% athletes admitted to doping in anonymous surveys
Usually, you have to catch someone doping to prove it, because people don't volunteer this information. This kind of defeats the purpose of cheating. Unless you give them a way out, like an anonymous survey. This happened in 2011, and the results weren't encouraging for those who value "clean" sport.
According to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), approximately 21,000,000 athletes have used doping. However, a couple of surveys asking athletes about their habits over the past year yielded results indicating that 57,000,000 admitted to doing so.
More than 2,000 runners participated in the survey. One was conducted at the World Championships, where 291 runners admitted to doping, and then 451 runners admitted to doping the previous year at the Pan Arab Games. These data first became known in 2013, two years after the surveys, and were not officially published until six years later.
The fact that the reports were commissioned by WADA and contained findings they absolutely did not want to hear may have played a role in the delay. One author made a similar claim, stating that there was considerable opposition from professional organizations who were unhappy with the results.
6. Nike Alphafly shoes banned for "technological" doping
There are several types of doping in sports. Drugs are the obvious and most common, but you can also engage in technological doping. This is when you use tools or equipment that give you an unfair advantage. For example, imagine playing basketball in those cool cartoon rocket shoes that allow you to fly across the court to dunk the ball. It's like that, but less cool.
Shoes have been banned before as technological doping. They're called Nike Alphafly sneakers, and they were banned at the Tokyo Olympics. Runners use them to increase energy return and speed. And they work so well that you can't use them.
Eliud Kipchoge discovered these shoes when he became the first person to run a marathon in under two hours. It was claimed that the shoes were the culprit. The shoes offer increased springiness, extra cushioning, and all sorts of performance-enhancing technologies that governing bodies deemed antithetical to the spirit of the race.
5. In 1930, a famous cycling race had to ban auxiliary drugs
The final trip to France and their infamous cycling race. We've already mentioned that many winners have used doping in the past, but let's look further. The Tour de France has been around for over a century, even in its dubious days.
In the early days, competitors drank wine and smoked cigarettes while riding. Ether, nitro, and other performance-enhancing drugs were also commonplace. Things were so bad that in 1930, the official race rulebook included a section reminding riders that the Tour de France would not provide them with performance-enhancing drugs. Imagine how difficult the situation was that they had to publish this. Competitors had become so accustomed to the strain that they expected to be doped before the race began.
4. Doping in chess
Doping isn't necessarily a problem in sports, it's a problem in competition. Whenever two or more people collide in any way, there's always a chance someone could use something to give them an advantage. That's why even chess players need to be tested, because you never know if someone is chasing your bishop with performance-enhancing substances.
In 2008, a professional chess player became embroiled in a public scandal after being asked to provide a urine sample. It was later determined that he had misunderstood the request due to a language barrier, but he was never tested. This remains the most public and well-known doping incident in chess, despite no one ever being found guilty of doping.
This incident also proved that chess has an anti-doping agency, and they conduct tests. Sometimes they even do too much, as one player had to submit three samples in a row because he drank too much water and it was diluted.
Ritalin and modafinil are two drugs considered performance enhancers for chess players. Tests show that players taking the drugs play slower, but perform better overall.
3. Doping for racing pigeons
Doping doesn't have to be a purely human problem. Obviously, people are behind it, but even racing pigeons need to be monitored, because there's always someone willing to play a pigeon trick to achieve success in this world.
If you're not familiar, pigeon racing is exactly what you think it is. People transport homing pigeons 1,200 km from home and release them. They then race home, and the first one to return wins. Belgium is at the forefront of this sport, holding its first race in 1818.
Like anyone else involved in racing, a pigeon can be given various medications, from steroids to something like painkillers, which can help it survive the race better than its competitors.
In 2013, six Belgian birds were tested and found to be doping. Five of them had anti-inflammatory drugs on board, and the sixth was given cocaine. People are turning birds into drug addicts to win races.
The reason for drugging pigeons is the same reason anyone or anything is drugged in sport: money. A single racing pigeon was sold in May of the same year the scandal broke, for $430,000.
2. Doping scandals in eSports
If you're of a certain age, you probably smirk when you hear the term "esports." Not everyone considers esports to be the same as other sports, but two things cannot be denied. Esports is extremely popular and certainly competitive. There's also a lot of money at stake, which is a major breeding ground for doping scandals.
Drug testing became a part of the esports world in 2015 after the massive Adderall scandal involving a Counter-Strike championship team, which was allegedly using the drug. Because these guys don't need steroids; they need focus. In the world of doping, you play to your strengths.
Since then, many more accusations have been leveled at the gaming world, including other medications like Adderall, Ritalin, and other ADHD medications believed to improve focus, concentration, and reaction time. Despite promises of some kind of regulation, little has come of it.
1. A speedometer that was banned as technological doping
We've previously briefly discussed technological doping, but no other technological doping has reached the heights and depths of the banned Speedo swimsuit. Considered an unfair advantage for competitive swimmers, the Speedo LZR Racer swimsuit has fallen on hard times.
As silly as it may sound, there's evidence that technology, even just technology, is a big help to swimmers. In 1976, when goggles were legal, numerous records were broken. In 2008, almost every record-breaking swimmer wore an LZR suit. In fact, 62 records were broken while wearing this suit.
Speedo collaborated with NASA scientists to develop the LZR suit, which provides the lowest possible drag and resistance. The technology is actually quite sophisticated, resulting in a super-microfiber suit that improves swimming efficiency at 5% and reduces drag at 38%.
The criticism of the suit is that it's a device designed to help you win. It costs $550 and can only be worn 10 times before it loses its competitive advantage. In 2009, the international governing body for swimming banned the use of suits because they "reduce natural abilities.".