These scandals rocked the sports world. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most infamous controversies at the Paralympic, Summer, and Winter Olympic games.
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00:00Well, I've talked to a lot of parents who have some very sad kids because they wanted to watch
00:03the opening ceremony, and you deprived them of that, France, so well done.
00:06Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most infamous controversies
00:11at the Paralympic, Summer, and Winter Olympic Games. We'll explore the shocking incident and
00:16the possible repercussions. We won't be examining incidents that involved mass tragedies, such as
00:21the 1972 Munich Massacre. Okay, let's do the backflip.
00:31Number 30, Canada's drone scandal, Paris, France. This scandal is certainly a modern one.
00:37Canada's women's soccer team was found guilty of using a drone to spy on New Zealand's team's
00:42practices. It was New Zealand that initially reported this to police and asked as well for
00:46the IOC Integrity Unit to take a look at this. This verdict came after Canada had defeated both
00:52New Zealand and France, but the six-point deduction the team suffered from the violation
00:56left a challenging road ahead for the rest of the games. Coach Bev Priestman was given a year-long
01:00ban as a result and quickly issued an apology to the players. And again, I would just like to
01:06apologize to our country, but also to New Zealand. The Canadian team had brought home the gold in
01:12women's soccer in Tokyo in 2021, but this uncovered misconduct unfortunately casts a
01:18dark shadow over the team's legacy. It does not reflect Canadians or who we are as competitors.
01:24Number 29, banned for doping before it was illegal, Nagano, Japan. The 1998 Winter Olympics
01:31was meant to be a celebration for Ross Rebliati. After all, the Canadian was the first gold
01:35medalist in the debuting sport of snowboarding, winning in the men's giant slalom event. But then,
01:41Rebliati tested positive for trace amounts of THC. After a vote by the International Olympic
01:46Committee, or IOC, he was disqualified. However, cannabis had not been banned by the IOC at that
01:52point. The Canadian Olympic Association is hereby requested to withdraw and return the medal.
01:58Canada appealed the decision, which was successful, and Rebliati could wear his
02:02medal with tarnished pride. The IOC then put through a ban on the substance two months later.
02:08Due to this drama, while Rebliati enjoyed the celebrity, he was added to the U.S.'s no-fly list,
02:13which damaged his snowboarding career.
02:15I might have to wear a gas mask from now on, but whatever.
02:20Number 28, badminton players match-fixing, London, England.
02:24Eight elite athletes who were deliberately and flagrantly losing their matches.
02:29It's rare when two teams collude with each other to fix a result in sport,
02:33but it's unprecedented for four to do so in the same event. At the 2012 Summer Olympics
02:39in London, England, multiple women's doubles badminton teams did just that. In Group A,
02:44China and South Korea were undefeated when they faced each other in the last match.
02:48The same situation happened for Group C with Indonesia and another South Korean pairing.
02:53During these bouts, the athletes seemingly threw the matches by making many errors.
02:58They did this to get a more favorable matchup in the quarterfinals.
03:01After the Badminton World Federation examined the matches, they ruled the
03:05accused players had broken the rules and were disqualified from the tournament.
03:09And as for the Chinese, South Korean, and Indonesian teams,
03:12they could face further sanctions from the IOC.
03:14Number 27, the Kosakiewicz gesture, Moscow, Soviet Union.
03:19Leading up to the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Soviet Union, Poland's Wladyslaw
03:24Kosakiewicz was one of the favorites to take gold in the pole vault after top finishes
03:28in several competitions. When he competed at the prestigious event,
03:32he, along with any other non-Soviet athlete, was booed and whistled at by the crowd.
03:36Yet even with that against him, the Polish vaulter achieved a 5.78-meter jump,
03:42taking the gold and breaking a world record. However, during several jumps,
03:46Kosakiewicz defied the hostility by showing the bras d'honneur, also known as the Italian salute,
03:52which is seen as the equivalent of whipping out the bird.
03:55Soviet officials demanded Kosakiewicz be stripped of the medal, which didn't happen.
04:00Number 26, Team Great Britain equestrian scandal, Paris, France.
04:05Naturally, horse safety should always be of the utmost importance in equestrian sports.
04:09But unfortunately, an abusive incident was uncovered surrounding a member of Great
04:14Britain's Olympic team. Charlotte Dujardin is provisionally suspended for a period of six months.
04:19An incriminating video was released of gold medalist Charlotte Dujardin mistreating her
04:24steed during a training session. This caused massive waves, and the situation was further
04:29investigated by PETA. Dujardin pulled out of the games as a result, but the team still managed to
04:34clinch the gold in equestrian eventing. Suddenly, an announcement from her that
04:38she's been forced to withdraw because of this investigation into her conduct.
04:43While this scandal was certainly an unfortunate one,
04:45it's crucial that animal safety issues are brought to the forefront of such athletic events.
04:50This is not the first time there has been an issue of welfare of an animal within the sport.
04:56Number 25, Convicted Dutch volleyball player, Paris, France.
05:01The Netherlands beach volleyball team received many boos from the crowd when
05:04player Steven van de Velde entered the court. Van de Velde was sentenced to four years in
05:08prison after having been found guilty of assault against a girl he had met online.
05:12When sentenced, the judge had commented that his, quote,
05:15Hopes of representing his country now lie as a shattered dream. But shockingly,
05:19after serving only 13 months of his time, van de Velde was selected by Dutch Olympic
05:24officials to join the team. Clearly, the consequences of his actions were ultimately
05:28minimal, though the media and audience backlash was considerable.
05:32Number 24, Surya Bonaly's backflip, Nagano, Japan.
05:36Running up to the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan,
05:40Frances Bonaly hit disaster as she ruptured her Achilles tendon.
05:43Amazingly, the figure skater still competed in the short program but had to adapt her routine.
05:49Rather than play it safe, Bonaly became the first person at the Olympics to land a stunning
05:53backflip on one blade. However, this maneuver has been banned by the International Skating Union
05:59since 1976. As such, she had points deducted. Regardless, Bonaly celebrated to the audience
06:05for achieving this impressive feat, turning her back to the judges. One official approached the
06:10judges and told them Bonaly's behavior was unacceptable, even though she came in 10th.
06:15When combined with free skating, Bonaly went down in Winter Olympic history with her performance.
06:20People were just crazy about it.
06:22Number 23, Greg Louganis' head injury, Seoul, South Korea.
06:27Representing the United States in diving at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea,
06:32Louganis looked to defend his two golds from the previous event. However, during the springboard,
06:37he struck his head on the board during a dive, causing a wound and a concussion.
06:42While hindsight dictates he shouldn't have continued competing with a concussion,
06:45he did, and won two golds. In 1995, Louganis came out with the news that he was diagnosed with HIV
06:53six months before the 1988 event. Straight away, people began criticizing him for not stating his
06:59diagnosis at the time as he bled in the water, leading to fears of infection. However, scientists
07:04disputed that anyone could have contracted the virus this way.
07:07Number 22, Spain's Paralympic basketball team, Sydney, Australia.
07:12At the 2000 Summer Paralympic Games in Sydney, Australia,
07:15Spain's men's basketball team in the intellectual disability class took the gold.
07:20Not long after the event closed, the truth came out.
07:23The Spanish team were, I think, laughed at and labeled the most unsporting
07:29team in history. I mean, unsporting's the wrong word. It's a euphemism for cheating.
07:33Undercover journalist and member of Spain's winning team, Carlos Ribagorda,
07:37told the press that the team hadn't had the necessary medical tests to show their disability.
07:42Only two of the 12 players were deemed to have an intellectual disability.
07:46Ribagorda claimed that Fernando Martín Vicente, an official for Spain's Paralympic organization,
07:51had purposely signed up non-disabled athletes to secure gold.
07:55It was a false medal. It was a false national anthem.
07:58The European nation was disqualified, and Vicente resigned.
08:02He was later found guilty of fraud in 2013 and fined 5,400 euros.
08:07This scandal caused intellectual disability events to be banned for two Paralympics.
08:12They'd lost a spectacular gamble, and in doing so had given the
08:15International Paralympic Committee its greatest PR disaster of all time.
08:20Number 21, China's underage gymnasts, Sydney, Australia.
08:24After helping China secure a bronze at the 1999 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
08:30Women's Team event, Dong Fengxiao helped them repeat the achievement at the 2000
08:34Summer Olympics for the women's artistic team all around.
08:37Still wanting to be involved after a severe injury forced her to retire,
08:40Dong signed up to be a technical official at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
08:44However, her date of birth was different from the one she was registered under in 2000.
08:49According to the newer birth year, Dong would have been 14 years old in Sydney, Australia,
08:54two years younger than the minimum age set in 1997.
08:57After an investigation, China was disqualified from the 1999 Worlds
09:01and the 2000 Olympics and had to return their medals.
09:05Number 20, many concerns over the 2020 Olympics, Tokyo, Japan.
09:11The COVID pandemic not only pushed the original 2020 date of the Tokyo Olympics to the following
09:16summer, it also brought up issues of contagious spread.
09:20However, that's just the tip of the iceberg.
09:23There is a local transmission. And if we, you know, send an inconsistent signal
09:29that we should celebrate the Olympics, then, you know, people will be confused.
09:35Various events are set to occur in Fukushima,
09:38despite possible safety concerns from the 2011 nuclear disaster.
09:42Our gargant counter reads radiation levels 100 times higher than it should be.
09:47Tokyo Bay's water quality has also been questioned with respect to its warm temperature,
09:52repellent smell, and reported high levels of fecal coliform bacteria,
09:58which could result in typhoid and dysentery.
10:01Meanwhile, asbestos was found in one of the competition's buildings.
10:05The game's logos and stadium designs were accused of plagiarism,
10:09Russia allegedly conducted pre-cyber reconnaissance,
10:12and there have been issues regarding politics and worker rights.
10:16Right before the games, one of the event's composers resigned
10:19and the opening ceremony director was fired when past comments came to light.
10:31There was a lot of hype preceding the 3,000-meter event at the 1984 Summer Olympics,
10:36as many were excited to watch South Africa's Zola Budd, who was competing for Great Britain,
10:42race American world champion Mary Decker.
10:45Unfortunately, it was a major letdown.
10:47They repeatedly bumped into each other, and Decker went down hard following a collision,
10:53forcing her to be carried off the field.
10:55The barefoot Budd was troubled by the incident and finished a disappointing seventh.
11:00The media didn't know who to blame, and each runner earned a degree of criticism.
11:05Most fell on Budd, but a later International Association of Athletics Federation's
11:10investigation found that the collision was not her fault.
11:14To this day, Decker blames it on her inexperience in pack running.
11:24In 2009, Rio de Janeiro won the bid to host the 2016 Summer Games.
11:29There was just one problem.
11:31Working-class favela Vila Autódromo was in the spot where they wanted the Olympic Village,
11:36so they attempted to kick everyone out.
11:39The favela inhabitants received eviction notices,
11:42reducing the area's population by 83 percent.
11:45Those remaining formed a civil society and rejected eviction,
11:49often coming face-to-face with riot police and their community's literal destruction.
11:55The billionaire owner of the real estate development firm Carvalho Hoskin
11:58further invited controversy with media comments about the indigenous population.
12:03It's estimated that 60,000 locals were displaced for the village's construction.
12:08Trimming pools, tennis courts, everything you can imagine.
12:12This is a five-star accommodation environment that you've never,
12:16I've never seen in a games village before.
12:23The 1988 Summer Olympics were held in Seoul, South Korea.
12:27Representing his home country was light middleweight boxer Park See Hun,
12:31who faced American Roy Jones Jr. in the gold medal match.
12:35Jones landed 86 punches against Park, with Park only landing 32.
12:41Despite this, Park was awarded the win in a controversial three-to-two decision,
12:46prompting an intense outcry.
12:48A judge allegedly admitted Jones should have won,
12:51but that he voted for Park to avoid disappointing South Korea.
12:55Multiple judges involved with the finals were subsequently prohibited from boxing,
12:59and an IOC investigation found that South Korean officials
13:03had won the judges over after taking them out for dinner.
13:06A new scoring system was later integrated to prevent future issues.
13:10When you can take a kid 19 years old, he defeats his rival clearly,
13:16and you rob him, it really eliminates the integrity of that sport.
13:27During the 2016 Rio Olympics,
13:30various American swimmers, including Ryan Lochte, claimed they had been robbed at gunpoint.
13:35It didn't take long for the so-called truth to come out.
13:39The athletes, some of whom were reportedly intoxicated,
13:42had allegedly vandalized a gas station and urinated in public,
13:46prompting a security guard confrontation.
13:49They then paid the guards for the damages.
13:51Deemed Lochte-gate, the incident saw the eponymous swimmer charged for falsely reporting a crime.
13:58He was also suspended for 10 months by the U.S. Olympic Committee
14:09and banned from its training centers.
14:12However, a later USA Today investigation brought up the possibility that the swimmers
14:16were actually innocent of vandalism and may have actually been coerced into handing over the money.
14:28After the elimination of the Soviet team as a result of Onyshenko's disqualification,
14:32hopes begin to revive.
14:34As a distinguished yet aging modern pentathlete and respected figure in the Soviet Union,
14:3938-year-old Onyshenko had a considerable reputation to uphold in his homeland.
14:43The pressure to perform, particularly in the Cold War era of sport,
14:48was too much to bear, however, and caused the former army major to cheat,
14:53eventually leading to his downfall.
14:55Desperate to match his previous silver medal performance,
14:58he altered his epee to register hits even when he wasn't making contact with his opponent.
15:10Just as quickly as this plot was discovered, Boris the Cheat was stripped of his sporting honors
15:16and personally reprimanded by Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev,
15:20therefore suffering the very fall from grace he was trying to avoid.
15:25Angel Matos kicks a referee.
15:28Beijing, China
15:29Cuban taekwondo fighter Angel Matos took home gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics,
15:35and following a disappointing 2004 outcome, he was looking to reclaim some glory in Beijing.
15:41Instead, he was permanently kicked out of the sport.
15:44During the bronze medal match, Matos sustained an injury
15:47and took a brief medical timeout called kieshi.
15:50Kieshi runs out after one minute, so when this time elapsed and Matos
15:54hadn't returned to the ring, the referee called the game
15:57and awarded the win to Matos' opponent.
16:00In return, Matos kicked him in the face.
16:03Perhaps unsurprisingly, Matos was subsequently banned for life
16:07by the World Taekwondo Federation, effectively ending his professional career.
16:19Salt Lake City really wanted to host the Olympics,
16:22and had bid four times to no avail.
16:24Finally, their luck turned around in 1995, and they were given the 2002 Winter Olympics.
16:30However, allegations of bribery soon surfaced.
16:33IOC officials had reportedly accepted money from the Salt Lake City organizing committee,
16:38and it wasn't the only time.
16:40After future digging, it was found that IOC officials had accepted
16:43bribes for both the 1998 and 2000 Olympics.
16:47The controversy launched numerous investigations,
16:50including one by the U.S. Department of Justice.
16:53Fifteen bribery charges were laid, and many prominent officials
16:57either resigned their posts or were officially expelled for corruption.
17:08The Salt Lake City Games were mired in controversy.
17:11If it wasn't charges of bribery, it was a reportedly fixed figure skating competition.
17:17The pair's figure skating event ended in trouble when Russia won gold over Canada,
17:22despite Canada's arguably better performance.
17:25The media criticized the judges for their decision,
17:28and suspicion landed on French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne.
17:32As soon as I had put down my pen, I started to suffer from a series of attacks,
17:37physical, verbal, and the worst, moral.
17:41She supposedly broke down when confronted by the technical committee's chair,
17:45and later admitted she'd been coerced into voting for the Russians.
17:49She said she was under pressure and that it was not her own opinion.
17:53However, she later retracted these statements,
17:56stating she'd genuinely believed the Russians had won.
17:59Though an investigation into the event was never launched, Le Gougne's judging career was over.
18:11The American men's basketball team was the stuff of Olympics legend,
18:15having won every gold medal event since 1936.
18:19They were also completely undefeated, with a 63-0 Olympics record.
18:25And then, the Cold War was brought to the basketball court,
18:28as Team USA faced the Soviet Union in the 1972 Munich Finals.
18:33Following an intense game, the final three seconds were a complete mess in terms of technical
18:39gameplay, and without going into complex detail, the USSR edged ahead for a 51-50 victory.
18:46Team USA wasn't happy and protested the outcome.
18:50They refused to accept silver,
18:52and the surviving team members continue to refuse both the outcome of the game and the medals today.
19:03As far back as 2000, Chinese officials were reportedly implementing
19:08environmental improvement projects, aka the systematic demolition of Beijing's impoverished areas,
19:15resulting in an estimated displacement of 1.5 million people for the 2008 Summer Games.
19:20These people have been forced out of their homes to make way for profitable real estate projects.
19:26Although local government claimed they only moved between 6,000 and 15,000, all with compensation,
19:32numerous reports exposed the mistreatment of those unwilling to shift by heavy-handed police.
19:37Beijing's floating population, consisting of rural migrants, the homeless, and other
19:43so-called second-class citizens, were most at risk from this purported social cleansing.
19:48For now, many live in neighborhoods curtained off by gray concrete walls,
19:52built, authorities say, to make Beijing prettier.
19:55It was reported that $40 billion was spent on Olympic or corporate infrastructure,
20:00while human rights were allegedly ignored,
20:02adding to an already large list of controversies surrounding the Beijing Games.
20:07Human rights groups have repeatedly expressed concern over the evictions and say Beijing is
20:12not living up to its promises that the Olympics will improve the country's rights record.
20:179. Jim Thorpe's Disqualification – Stockholm, Sweden
20:22Reportedly dubbed the greatest athlete in the world by the King of Sweden,
20:26this legendary all-rounder took gold in both the pentathlon and decathlon at the 1912 Summer Games,
20:32setting records that endured well into the 20th century.
20:36There must be something in the Thorpe legend for people to still be talking about him
20:4050 years after he's dead.
20:41The Native American and European's athletic career is defined by tales of his nonchalant
20:46excellence. His winning the high jump in mismatched shoes is one of many anecdotes.
20:52Yet his feats will always be tainted by the IOC's elitist and potentially
20:56racist attempts to punish him for violating their Victorian rules on amateurism,
21:00rules that white athletes frequently abused without consequence.
21:03As far as I'm concerned, he's a Simon Pure athlete.
21:08You mustn't take those medals away from him, gentlemen. You mustn't.
21:13Under serious pressure from Thorpe supporters,
21:15the IOC did eventually yield on the subject by returning Thorpe's medals in the early 1980s.
21:21They were presented to his seven surviving children.
21:258. The African Boycott – Montreal, Quebec, Canada
21:29During the 1976 Montreal Games, South Africa was in the height of apartheid,
21:34a system of racial segregation based on the concept of white supremacy
21:38that saw major oppression against black Africans.
21:41In 1976, the New Zealand all-blacks rugby team toured South Africa,
21:46and dozens of African countries requested that the IOC ban New Zealand from the then-upcoming
21:52Olympics. In their opinion, the controversial tour indirectly condoned the regime,
21:57and they wanted New Zealand punished. The IOC refused,
22:01so 29 countries protested the Olympics and failed to show.
22:05This prevented the former 1,500-meter world record holder from competing,
22:09as Philbert Bailly hailed from Tanzania, one of the countries protesting the Games.
22:157. Blood in the Water Match – Melbourne, Australia
22:28Just a few weeks before this water polo match, Soviet tanks had rumbled into Budapest
22:33to end a revolution that claimed about 3,000 Hungarians.
22:48Hoping to restore their country's pride, the Hungarian team planned to rile up the Russians,
22:53get physical, and force them into rash decisions.
22:57People ask why it is that way, and I think that water polo is simply in our blood.
23:04With Hungary leading 4-0 late in the game, the Russians took matters into their own hands.
23:09Hungarian player Ervin Zador was struck in the eye,
23:13sending the hundreds of Hungarians in the crowd into a frenzy that required police intervention.
23:18In a bittersweet finish, the Hungarian team took home the gold,
23:22but they could never escape the match's political subtext,
23:25forcing many members to find refuge in less oppressive lands.
23:29The Hungarians are declared 4-0 winners.
23:32The semi-final showdown instantly makes headlines across the globe.
23:376. Ben Johnson-Dobro – Slovakia
23:40Ben Johnson-Dobro was the first Hungarian team to win the World Cup,
23:44and it was a momentous moment for the team.
23:456. Ben Johnson-Doping – Seoul, South Korea
23:55The men's 100 meters at the 1988 Summer Olympics may have been labeled the
23:59dirtiest race in history, but it was also one of the most enthralling to watch.
24:046. Ben Johnson-Doping – Slovakia
24:11Six members of that all-star lineup were implicated in other doping controversies post-race,
24:16but it was Johnson, the world record holder after his 9.79-second race,
24:20who will forever be defined by the steroid use he began in 1981.
24:29The Canadian was open about his long-term cheating,
24:32and rightly stripped of his gold medal,
24:34yet is still irked to be the only one punished when others also fail drug tests.
24:42He's even claimed the IOC only selectively cracks down on the
24:46pervasive doping culture in athletics.
24:48But even if Johnson's allegations are true, we may never fully know.
25:025. Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan – Lillehammer, Norway
25:15Containing jealousy, a hitman, and an unrelenting desire for sporting success,
25:21it's no surprise a feature-length film adaptation of this event was released.
25:32During a practice that was crucial for determining the U.S. Olympic figure skating team,
25:40a henchman hired by Tonya Harding's ex-husband and bodyguard struck Nancy Kerrigan in the leg.
25:46Since she was then the sports poster girl,
25:49the attack was orchestrated to intentionally put her out of the 94 games.
25:53Branded as the do-anything-for-gold skater,
25:56Harding's alleged knowledge of the attack was soon exposed.
26:00However, she was still allowed to compete at the Olympics.
26:03Fortunately, Kerrigan recovered and landed silver at Lillehammer, while Harding, placed eighth,
26:09was fined, received three years of probation, and never skated competitively again.
26:224. The Russian Doping Scandal – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
26:26It's almost spooky.
26:28Details of Russia's alleged state-sponsored systematic doping came to light in 2014,
26:33but they were expanded upon when ex-Russian anti-doping official
26:37Grigory Rodchenkov provided an insider's look into a conspiracy that forced him to flee to the U.S.
26:44According to Rodchenkov, he would feed the athletes these banned substances via
26:49alcohol. He even mixed special cocktails for them.
26:52Exploiting the increased access granted by their hosting of the games,
26:56Sochi 2014 competitors were reportedly allowed to dope without consequence,
27:00while their urine samples were exchanged in covert operations carried out by Rodchenkov and others.
27:06It's a fact that we cannot prove doping among athletes through our evaluation,
27:10but we do have an indication of how widespread doping is.
27:13He claimed that at least 15 medalists from the 2014 Winter Olympics might be implicated.
27:19Due to these supposedly Kremlin-sanctioned schemes,
27:22Russia was suspended from world sports events.
27:25They were also investigated before the 2016 Summer Olympics,
27:29resulting in the IOC ejecting 110 team members.
27:33But pressure is building to make Russia's sanctions stick much longer.
27:42The United States Olympic Committee voted to boycott the Summer Olympic Games in Moscow.
27:47In response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan beginning in 1979,
27:51U.S. President Jimmy Carter led an international boycott that doomed his period in office,
27:56and triggered the Soviet Union's own boycott of the L.A. Games in 1984.
28:01We fought and we did our best to preserve the games in Moscow in 1980,
28:07and we have to do the same to preserve the games in 1984 in Los Angeles.
28:13While the reasons behind this action were righteous and well-supported,
28:17the U.S. enlisted Muhammad Ali's help and ultimately 65 nations joined up,
28:21the boycott threatened the Olympic movement
28:24by embroiling the games in the political maneuvering of two world powers.
28:28Well, I'm very disappointed,
28:29but I feel that it's probably the only thing that our country can do as a unit.
28:3425 angry U.S. athletes even sued the government for denying them a dream they worked so hard towards.
28:40And yet, Carter stuck to his morals,
28:43strengthening a stance that would later be described by the Soviet Union as,
28:47quote,
28:47anti-Soviet hysteria.
28:49You can look anywhere around the globe,
28:51and you'll find a problem where help is needed,
28:54where we could jump on a bandwagon if you like.
28:56And I think it's just a little unfortunate that we've chosen now the Olympic Games to have a go at.
29:00Number two,
29:01Olympics Black Power Salute,
29:03Mexico City, Mexico.
29:05My head bowed and my fist went up in the air.
29:07It's one of the 20th century's most powerful images.
29:11During the medal ceremony for the 200-meter race at the 1968 Summer Olympics,
29:15Americans Tommy Smith and John Carlos,
29:18shoeless and with their heads bowed,
29:20each thrust up a gloved hand.
29:25On the 16th of October 1968,
29:27Tommy Smith and John Carlos' controversial demonstration stunned the world.
29:32Smith said it was meant to symbolize human rights for all,
29:35but others believed it was in support of Black Power.
29:38Expelled and met with hostility when they returned home,
29:41they stood by the political statement,
29:43claiming it was their moral obligation to sacrifice their individual reputations
29:48to send a message to those watching.
29:50We always had the happy face and the USA all across our chest
29:53to give indication that everything is smooth in America.
29:56But in fact, it wasn't smooth.
29:58Meanwhile, the third man in the photograph,
30:00Peter Norman,
30:01was an Olympics pariah for decades thereafter because he showed his support
30:06by donning an Olympic Project for Human Rights badge.
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30:24On virtually every other banner we saw,
30:27there was a swastika.
30:28For two weeks in 1936 Berlin,
30:31Nazi prosperity and hospitality blinded the world,
30:35while Germany's precisely directed propaganda campaign
30:38obscured their anti-Semitic,
30:40discriminatory and expansionist policies from view.
30:42How can a Jew be good enough to win the Olympics
30:46that I would have had to be afraid for my life, I'm sure?
30:49No one was afraid.
30:50that I would have had to be afraid for my life, I'm sure?
30:53Numerous nations that would form the Allied powers
30:56were present for carefully manufactured demonstrations
30:59of fervent German pride,
31:01while arguments stating participation in the games
31:03were tantamount to an endorsement of fascism went unheard.
31:07And so, despite mentions of a potential boycott,
31:10the games began.
31:12Medals were even won by some Jewish and black athletes,
31:15but it was Hitler who truly prospered.
31:18The Reich Chancellor turned the games
31:20into an advertising campaign for his administration,
31:22with some asserting that he successfully manipulated
31:25European powers into a complacency
31:28that allowed the Nazi regime
31:29to spread across Europe in subsequent years.
31:36Which scandal do you think takes the gold?
31:38Let us know in the comments below.
31:40How is the best boxer here not wearing a gold medal?
31:43Did you enjoy this video?
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