The 50 Biggest Fails in Summer Olympics History

Image via Complex Original

Who: Ryan Lochte
Olympics: London 2012

Leading the 4x100 freestyle relay by half a length with arguably the world's best swimmer on the anchor leg, the US team looked like it could cruise to victory. Then things took a turn for the worse for the Americans. Lochte, likely tired from a demanding Olympic schedule, was outdone by 20-year-old Frenchman Yannick Agnel by a full second, the US lost, and Michael Phelps was denied another gold medal. In one night, Lochte beat Phelps by beating him, and beat Phelps by losing with him.

Who: The IOC
Olympics: Paris 1900

Watching Mike Phelps and company swim back and forth can be plenty entertaining, but it would be infinitely better if they still had obstacles. Back in 1900, the swimmers had to climb over and swim under various obstacles. Why the hell would the IOC not want this? Haven't they seen how much America loves Wipe Out?

Who: Fencing judges
Olympics: Paris 1900

The early rounds of the 1900 fencing competition were judged based on style, with some fencers who won being eliminated while other competitors who lost moving on to later rounds. Somewhere Chad Johnson is plotting to have touchdown celebrations included in NFL scoring. Thankfully nothing like this exists today—oh wait, rhythmic gymnastics is still around?

Who: Sigrid Fick
Olympics: Stockholm 1912

If you thought Melo and STAT had problems coexisting on the court, you really haven’t seen anything yet. In the gold medal match of the mixed doubles tournament at the 1912 Games in Stockholm, Swede Sigrid Fick swung and hit her partner Gunnar Setterwall in the face during the first set. Setterwall continued playing, but the duo lost the gold 6-4, 6-0. The Knicks can cross off headshots as possible solutions for their star-crossed superstar duo.

Who: The IOC
Olympics: London 2012

Another head-scratcher courtesy of the IOC. Sure, we only watched these sports if Jennie Finch was pitching for the US Softball squad, but are there any better options? Seriously, we don't need to see badminton, archery, or the fuckery that is "rhythmic gymnastics." We'd have more faith that the IOC will correct the mistake, but just wait until you see how many more fails it has given us.

Who: Quebec
Olympics: Quebec 1976

The process of lighting the Olympic cauldron is a drawn out procedure in which a flame originating in Olympia, Greece, makes a journey around the world to the host city. Backup flames are kept on hand in case the original is extinguished accidentally. When rain put out the 1976 flame, it was reignited by a plumber using a cigarette lighter. Not exactly the grand source that Olympic officials desire. The makeshift flame was then put out and replaced by one of the backups.

Who: Ara Abrahamian
Olympics: Beijing 2008

After losing a controversial Greco-Roman semifinal match, Sweden's Ara Abrahamian had to be restrained from attacking the judges. To top that feat of poor sportsmanship, after he won the bronze medal, he walked off the medal stand, tossed the bronze away and left. Italian gold medal winner Andrea Minguzzi had something to say about the disrespect: "Certainly one can always question decisions made in the course of refereeing, but in sports it is appropriate to show sportsmanship and accept the results." Preach.

Who: Antonio Pettigrew
Olympics: Sydney 2000

Antonio Pettigrew cost his relay team gold medals when he revealed that he used performance enhancing drugs for the 2000 Games. Michael Johnson, one of the greatest American sprinters of all time, voluntarily gave back his medal when he learned of the news. Two other members of the team, twin brothers Alvin and Calvin Harrison, also faced doping allegations in the following years. If the IOC can take away medals, shouldn't the MLB do something about all of those home run records?

Who: Joe Klamar
Olympics: London 2012

Most people take representing the USA with pride and dignity. Photographer Joe Klamar is not like most people as you can tell by these god-awful Olympic portraits. Terrible lighting, strange poses, and all kinds of bad decisions combine to make the portraits into a grand collection of photographic fuckery.

Who: Svetlana Khorkina
Olympics: Athens 2004

Russian gymnast Svetlana Khorkina was none too happy after she lost to American Carly Patterson in the all-around competition. She claimed the judges screwed her over. She claimed that she lost "because I'm from Russia, not from America." Khorkina must have missed the day in kindergarten when you learn to keep your mouth closed if you have nothing nice to say. It would be hard to appreciate good sportsmanship if there weren't knuckleheads like her making fools of themselves.

Who: Stacy Augmon
Olympics: Seoul 1988

After being a member of a US men's basketball team that didn't win gold, Stacy Augmon wanted no part of the bronze. So much so that he lost his in his hotel room, definitely a fail on his part. As you'll find out, when it comes to basketball the US only cares about the gold. We did invent the sport after all.

Who: The IOC
Olympics: Athens 1896

Thankfully this mistake was fixed for the 1900 Games, but it still was inexcusable for women not to be included at the original 1896 Games. Equality for women has moved leaps and bounds since to the point that the 2012 US Olympic team has more women than men for the first time ever. #progress

Who: Dorando Pietri
Olympics: London 1908

Italian Dorando Pietri entered the stadium leading the marathon in the original London Olympics, but was disoriented and exhausted. He started the final lap in the wrong direction and collapsed multiple times on the lap. After getting up on his own will several times, he was eventually aided across the finish line by doctors. The assistance unfortunately led to his disqualification to the dismay of the crowd that wanted him to defeat the American, Johnny Hayes, who was eventually named the winner. Queen Alexandra was so moved by his effort that she presented him with a silver cup after the competition.

Who: Norbert Sudhaus
Olympics: Munich 1972

While American Frank Shorter was leading the marathon, German student Norbert Sudhaus came into the stadium first and got wild applause from the crowd. The BBC announcer was shocked and described him as “Fresh as a buttercup” before realizing that the crowd had been duped by an impostor. Shorter got the gold medal, but not before the crowd was fooled by Sudhaus.

Who: Dong Fangxiao
Olympics: Sydney 2000

Ten years after helping the Chinese women's gymnastics team win a bronze medal, Dong Fangxiao was found to be 14 when she competed. The minimum age for Olympic competition is 16. The US women's team ended up being awarded bronze medals in place of China. Speaking of underage Chinese gymnasts, isn't it about time to look into the babyfaced 2008 team?

Who: Oversensitive Americans
Olympics: Sydney 2000

Right around the time that slasher movies like Scream and parodies like Scary Movie were popping off, Nike decided to capitalize on the movement. They had one of their best athletes, Suzy Hamilton, escape from a chainsaw-wielding maniac with the credit going to her fitness and, of course, her Nikes. Even though she survives in the commercial, some people thought it was demeaning to women so it was pulled from the airwaves. Hamilton also thought the commercial was inspirational because the woman wins. Jeez, lighten up people.

Who: Meyer Prinstein
Olympics: Paris 1900

Leading the long jump competition heading into the final round, American Meyer Prinstein, who was Jewish, would not compete in the final because it was held on a Sunday. Prinstein claims that he had an agreement with his main competitor, fellow American and Christian Al Kraenzlein, that neither would compete. Apparently it wasn't a very good agreement because Kraenzlein participated and beat Prinstein by a quarter of an inch. Prinstein was decidedly pissed off and punched Kraenzlein in the face (or was prevented from doing so, depending on whose account you believe).

Who: US men's basketball
Olympics: Seoul 1988

The last US Olympic team consisting entirely of amateurs turned out to be quite the disappointment. Despite having future NBA stars David Robinson, Dan Majerle, and Mitch Richmond along with collegiate superstar Danny Manning, the roster was also filled out with no-names like Jeff Grayer and Charles Smith. The loss to the Soviet Union in the semifinals is one of the biggest blemishes on coach John Thompson's resume. On the bright side, if the team had somehow pulled out the gold medal, we might not have ever seen the Dream Team.

Who: Greg Louganis
Olympics: Seoul 1988

Ouch to the hundredth power. After hitting the board attempting a two-and-one-half pike, Louganis had a concussion and every person who watched it got a real bad case of the squeamies. We're not assholes for putting this on here because of how amazingly he recovered. Despite the obvious fail and pain, Louganis rebounded to win the gold medals in the 3-meter and 10-meter diving competitions for the second straight Olympics.

Who: Kanakuri Shizo
Olympics: Stockholm 1912

After a comically long 18-day journey to Stockholm involving sea travel and a trip on the Trans-Siberian Railway, Japanese marathoner Kanakuri Shizo stopped during the 1912 marathon at a home on the route. Exhausted, he fell asleep and didn't wake up until the next morning. He didn't finish the race that day, but came back in 1967 to finish with an unofficial time of 54 years, 8 months, 6 days, 32 minutes and 20.3 seconds.

Who: Fred Lorz
Olympics: St. Louis 1904

Before Rosie Ruiz at the 1980 Boston Marathon, American Fred Lorz cheated his way to victory in the marathon at the 1904 Games in St. Louis. After running the first nine miles, Lorz got a ride for the next 11 miles until the car broke down. He walked the final six miles and won easily. Spectators called him out and he admitted to cheating, but he created a strategy that would live on for generations.

Who: Jim Ryun
Olympics: Mexico City 1968

Jim Ryun had not lost in the 1500 meters in more than three years entering the 1968 Games. Despite holding three world records at the time, the 21-year-old only won a silver medal in Mexico City. In his final Olympics in 1972, he was tripped and didn't medal. #timingiseverything

Who: US Softball
Olympics: Beijing 2008

After winning the previous three gold medals, the US women were heavy favorites to capture a fourth gold in Beijing. The US outscored its opponents by a staggering 57-2 margin heading into the gold medal game. Those are Dream Team numbers on steroids for crying out loud. Of course they'd steamroll Japan. Not so fast. The team's bats were ice cold and they lost 3-1. You can go ahead and forget that Dream Team comparison.

Who: Men disguised as women
Olympics: Several Olympics

There is a shockingly lengthy history of men playing the part of women in the Olympics. Deep voices and domination are often telltale signs that something is, um, off. The Germans had to try their hand at cheating in every possible way and this was no exception. Dora Ratjen competed in the high jump in the 1936 Games in Berlin and wouldn’t share showers with the other competitors. After being spotted with facial hair, Ratjen failed a gender test and the truth came out.

Who: Aleksandr Karelin
Olympics: Sydney 2000

Russian Greco-Roman superheavyweight Aleksandr Karelin entered the 2000 Games on what some would call a hot streak. He had never lost in 13 years, won three consecutive Olympic gold medals and had not even given up a point in the past ten years. In the gold medal match, however, Karelin's streak came to an end at the hands of American Rulon Gardner. Gardner, who had never won a major wrestling title, upset the heavily favored Karelin who tired as the match went on. Fatigue played a large role in the match as it was Karelin's third match of the day compared to Gardner's second.

Who: The IOC
Olympics: Barcelona 1992

Canadian Sylvie Frechette entered as the favorite in synchronized swimming, but was given a low 8.7 score from a Brazilian judge in the technical section of the event. The judge claimed to have entered the wrong score accidentally, but the rules did not allow for a correction. Largely because of the scoring error, Frechette finished the competition second to American Kristin Babb-Sprague. A lengthy appeal process resulted in Frechette receiving a gold medal over a year later in October of 1993. Babb-Sprague was allowed to keep her medal so there are two gold medal winners from the event. Way to go, technology!

Who: Egypt
Olympics: London 2012

Apparently the Egyptian Olympic Committee did their shopping on Canal Street because athletes realized their gear was fake. Synchronized swimmer Yomna Khalla tweeted "“The bags for example have big nike logo in the front and the zippers are addidas (sic)." Luckily for the athletes, the real Nike donated uniforms to save them from the embarrassment.

Who: The IOC
Olympics: Athens 1906

Imagine participating and winning a medal at the Olympics. You'd be on top of the world, right? Now what would you do if the IOC decided that they were pulling some bullshit and not recognizing the Games as "true" Olympics. This is what happened when they renamed the 1906 Olympics to the 1906 Intercalated Games after settling on the four-year cycle.

Who: Voula Papachristou
Olympics: London 2012

Greek triple jumper Voula Papachristou decided to get racist on Twitter ("With so many Africans in Greece, the West Nile mosquitoes will be getting home food!!!") and she was banned from the 2012 Games. We've got two things to say to Voula: 1. If you're gonna get kicked out of the Olympics for a joke, at least make it funny. 2. Didn't you see all the athletes failing on Twitter before you?

Who: Quebec
Olympics: Montreal 1976

Montreal incurred a stunning amount of debt from hosting the 1976 Summer Games: $1.5 billion. Today, it is almost a foregone conclusion that the host city will actually lose money. What sets apart Montreal’s debt, however, is how long it took them to pay it off. Montreal had debt from hosting the games for an astonishing 30 years until they finally paid it off in 2006.

Who: The IOC
Olympics: Stockholm 1912

If you think the International Olympic Committee is stupid now, know that it's a genetic condition. After Jim Thorpe, one of the greatest American athletes of the 20th century, won two gold medals in dominant fashion at the 1912 Games, he was stripped of his medals after it was discovered that he played professional minor league baseball. It took the IOC 69 years to finally correct the mistake, which was 30 years after Thorpe passed away.

Who: Zola Budd
Olympics: Los Angeles 1984

In the women’s 3,000 meter final of the 1984 Olympics, South African Zola Budd tried to move in front of American Mary Decker. Despite not having enough room to make the move cleanly, she went ahead anyway, tripped Decker to the ground and became a villain to all Americans. Decker, one of the most decorated American female runners of all-time and Sports Illustrated’s 1983 Sportsperson of the Year, fell and had to be helped off the track at the conclusion of the event. When Budd apologized after the race, Decker responded with “Don’t bother!” We’d be pretty pissed too.

Who: The IOC
Olympics: Sydney 2000

When the world's best gymnasts are falling off the vault horse right and left, it probably isn't a coincidence. The vault was set five centimeters too low and the gymnasts struggled throughout the competition. Once the mistake was corrected, they were allowed to try again, but the damage was done for some competitors. Russian Svetlana Khorkina fell on the vault and then, with her confidence undoubtedly shaken, went to the uneven bars and fell once again.

Who: Spain
Olympics: Beijing 2008

What better way to endear yourselves to a host country with a government infamous for “taking care of problems” than to take racist team photos. The Spaniards should have thought for an extra second so they could have realized just how stupid of an idea it was. They found out the tough way that karma is a bitch. The women didn’t medal and Kobe Bryant pulled the men’s team hearts out down the stretch in the gold medal game.

Who: Thomas Hamilton-Brown
Olympics: Berlin 1936

South African boxer Thomas Hamilton-Brown wasn’t a good loser at the 1936 Games. After dropping a controversial lightweight decision Chile's Carlos Lillo, he did what many people do: he ate his feelings. Unlike most people, though, he gained five pounds overnight. And unlike everyone else in human history, he was declared the winner of an Olympic event the next day when a judge reversed the decision, but because of the five pound food bender, Hamilton-Brown couldn’t make weight and was disqualified. Imagine if this happened today? And we thought the Pacquiao-Bradley decision sucked.

Who: Mikha Singh
Olympics: Rome 1960

Usain Bolt made it look cool in 2008 when he slowed down and still won the 100 meters. DeSean Jackson looked like a jackass when he celebrated a touchdown too early. Before the two of them, however, India’s Mikha Singh was the OG of celebrating early. In the 1960 Olympics, Singh thought he had a comfortable lead in the 400 meters, but was overtaken before the finish line and went from first to off the medal stand. Nobody ever said stunting was easy. Failing on the other hand...

Who: Byun Jong-Il
Olympics: Seoul 1988

Boxing at the 1988 Games had a pair of controversies. Before we get to the one involving an American, here is the story of perhaps the biggest crybaby in Olympic history. South Korea’s Byun Jong-Il was disqualified for head-butting his opponent and decided to protest. So he didn’t leave the ring. Even after they turned off the lights in the arena. That is some serious commitment for a five-year-old, but it's truly impressive when a 19-year-old does it.

Who: Angel Matos
Olympics: Beijing 2008

In the 2008 Games, Matos took an injury timeout; the referee determined that he took too much time and disqualified him. Matos was none too happy and decided to prove he was still able to fight. So he did the only logical thing and kicked the ref right in the dome. The 2000 Olympic gold medalist earned himself a lifetime ban from the World Taekwondo Federation. Take a look at the initials of the Federation. WTF. Couldn't have said it any better ourselves.

Who: Maurice Greene, Shawn Crawford, Justin Gatlin and Coby Miller
Olympics: Athens 2004

After Justin Gatlin won gold in the 100 meter sprint and teammates Maurice Greene and Shawn Crawford took third and fourth, respectively, a gold in the 4x100 relay seemed like a foregone conclusion. However, poor execution of the baton handoffs doomed the squad and led to a disappointing silver medal behind Great Britain. Greene later revealed that the foursome had only practiced handoffs twice leading up to the Olympics.

Who: Marion Jones
Olympics: Sydney 2000

Baseball players weren’t the only ones juicing up at the turn of the millennium—track stars were just as likely to be dirty. After winning three gold and two bronze medals in Sydney, Marion Jones was eventually found to have lied to investigators and was sentenced to serve six months in jail in 2008. Jones had been accused of doping dating back to her high school days in California so the question is: How many more of her records are tainted?

Who: Frederic Weis
Olympics: Sydney 2000

In the most embarassing moment in Olympic history, Frenchman Fredric Weis had his manhood and chances of an NBA career destroyed at the hands of one superhuman dunk from Vince Carter. In a US-France preliminary game, Carter stole a pass and then slammed over the 7'2" Weis. It earned the name "la dunk de la mort," meaning "the dunk of death." Yes, Weis' basketball career and the game were virtually over. The US won 106-94 in the first matchup and also beat France for the gold medal five days later.

Who: Stan Wright
Olympics: Munich 1972

After tying the world record in the 100 meters at the Olympic Trials, Eddie Hart was a favorite in Munich along with teammate Rey Robinson. After a morning heat, their coach Stan Wright told them their next heat was later in the day so they returned to the Olympic Village. Unfortunately for them, Wright was using an outdated schedule. They ended up seeing their heat on television at the Olympic Village. They were not allowed to race in subsequent heats and their gold medal hopes ended. Eddie Hart didn’t leave empty handed as he was a member of the gold medal winning 4x100 meter relay team.

Who: Wim Esajas
Olympics: Rome 1960

Pop quiz! What continent is Suriname on? Struggling? We thought so. Maybe you would know where it is if their first Olympian Wim Essajas had actually competed in the 800 meter competition at the 1960 Games, instead of sleeping through it. He got played badly when someone told him his heat was in the afternoon, but in fact was earlier in the day. Life’s a bitch ain’t it? Oh, and Suriname is in South America.

Who: 2004 USA Men's Basketball
Olympics: Athens 2004

In all fairness to the 2004 team, it wasn’t anywhere near the same group as the 2003 team that qualified by dominating the Tournament of the Americas. Players like Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, Jermaine O’Neal and Jason Kidd all dropped out, largely due to fears of terrorism. It also didn’t help that Kobe Bryant was spending his time in Colorado facing a rape charge. Despite not having some great players, Team USA still had Tim Duncan and Allen Iverson at the peak of their abilities to lead them. Shoot-first guards in Iverson and Stephon Marbury didn't mesh well with FIBA play. The team lacked the necessary playmaking, shooting and rebounding that the international game requires. But really, the blame should fall on coach Larry Brown for not playing youngsters LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Amar’e Stoudemire enough. He instead started Richard Jefferson, who managed to shoot 3-16 on field goals and 0-6 on threes in the opening-game loss to Puerto Rico. While starting all eight games, Jefferson shot a miserable 32 percent from the field, 26 percent from three and 55 percent from the free throw line. The US men went on to win a disappointing bronze medal in Athens finishing 5-3. How did we lose to a country the size of Connecticut in a sport we invented?

Who: Hitler & the Nazis
Olympics: Berlin 1936

This was a huge victory for Jesse Owens and equality, but it doubles as a L for Hitler and the Nazis. Faced with racism from the host country, Owens claimed four gold medals and transcended sports with the cultural impact of his achievements. Hitler, meanwhile, had to live with the embarrassment of being shown up on his home turf by someone he viewed as inferior. All that was needed was a look at the scoreboard to show who came out on top.

Who: Ben Johnson
Olympics: Seoul 1988

In 1988, Canadian Ben Johnson battled injuries to make the Olympics. His main rival, American Carl Lewis, was confident enough to declare that he would never lose to Johnson again. That’s when things got crazy. Despite the injuries, Johnson set a world record in the 100 meters and beat Lewis for the gold medal. Of course, he soon thereafter tested positive for steroids because there have never been any fast Canadians.

Who: IOC boxing judges
Olympics: Seoul 1988

When a boxer outhits their opponent 86-32, that’s an ass kicking and automatic victory unless you’re Roy Jones Jr. fighting a South Korean in South Korea. Despite dominating Park Si-Hun, Jones lost the decision 3-2. Si-Hun apologized to Jones for the inexplicable decision. Later, it came out that South Korean officials had bribed the judges. Even with all the fuckery, the IOC has never reversed the decision.

Who: Dan O'Brien
Olympics: Barcelona 1992

Reebok spent $30 million on a pair of decathletes, Dan O’Brien and Dave Johnson, leading up to the Barcelona Olympics. "Dan and Dave" became something of a national phenomenon as people were swept up by the buzz. There was just one problem with the marketing campaign: Dan didn’t qualify for the Games. D’Oh! The athletes went on to have some good moments as Johnson won bronze in 1992 and O’Brien won gold in 1996. But that's a lot of marketing dollars for a campaign that didn't materialize. Imagine if Twitter had been around in '92.

Who: The IOC
Olympics: Munich 1972

During the middle of the Cold War, the US and USSSR faced off in what would become the most disputed finish to a basketball game ever. Trailing 50-49 after Doug Collins made two free throws with three seconds left, the Soviets inbounded and did not score, but a referee stopped the game because he claimed the clock was wrong and ordered the teams to re-play the possession. After the Soviets inbounded a second time and didn’t score, the referees again ordered another re-do because of clock issues. On their third attempt, the Soviets scored on a full-court pass to win the gold. Forty years later, the American team continues to give the result the middle finger by not claiming their silver medals and they remain in a Swiss vault today. Captain Kenny Davis went as far as to put it in his will that none of his family can ever claim the medal.