Top 5 Olympic Controversies

1. The big political boycott
Moscow 1980
At the height of the Cold War, US President Jimmy Carter declared that the USA would be boycotting the Olympic Games. 62 countries joined the boycott and a substitute event was held on US soil instead.

2. And the gold goes to… the swimsuit
Beijing 2008
A type of full-body swimsuit made out of polyurethane was banned from all future competitive swimming. As record after record tumbled it China, it was decided that the suit gave the swimmers an unfair advantage over their predecessors.

3. Avoid the ‘roids
Montreal 1976
After a series of dominant victories, the East German women’s team were accused of steroid doping. It has since been proved true and the masculinity of the female athletes is still an unwanted image of the Canadian Olympics.

4. You had one job!
London 2012
North Korea’s football match against Columbia was delayed for around an hour after the team showed their disgust at the South Korean flag being shown on the Hampden Park big screen.

5. A car crash of an excuse
Athens 2004
Greek sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou were banned from their home Olympics after missing a regulation drugs test. Bizarrely, they blamed the no-show on a motorbike crash the duo had.