9 Athletes Who Were Brought Down By Scandal

The passion for sports and the desire to win has always influenced some sportsmen to get involved in some unfair means like consuming performance-enhancing drugs and later they got stripped from their achievements. When someone like Johnson broke the record of Karl Lewis, the whole world went berserk over this unbelievable feat. When it was found later that it has been done under the influence of drugs, it was hard to believe. Not only in track and field events but doping has become common in all kind of sports.

Trials From The Past

Personal life many sports persons are also affected by various scandals like murder, drug and alcoholism and much more. The double murder accused and former NBA and NFL star OJ Simpson is now convicted and is in prison. MLB star Pete Rose has been banned for betting in the game. Nancy Kerrigan won silver at the 1994 Olympics in spite of Tonya Harding trying to break her leg by a club during practice. Sex scandal, mismanagement of funds and direct and indirect connection to the underworld with slush funds in sports are also common since a long time.

The Recently disclosed Scandals

Recently there have been a lot of scandals related to sports activities, both on and off the field which has tarnished the reputation of sports and the sports person involved.

• Tiger Woods - One of the best golfers on his way to being the greatest of all times saw himself entwined with various scandals like divorce, several mistresses, car accidents and his career and personal life in jeopardy from which he could never regain his peak in the world of golf.

• Maria Sharapova - Another famous tennis player who was banned for two years by the International Tennis Federation for using the banned drug medium. Her punishment is effective from 26th January 2016 which will mean, her Australian Open title and prize money will be taken back.

• Michael Phelps - The swimming sensation and the winner of a dozen Olympic medals, winner in a single event in Beijing were suspended by the USA Swimming Federation when he was charged with driving under the influence in Maryland in 2014. He was suspended for three months in 2009 when he was charged for using illegal drugs.

• Barry Bonds - The famed baseball player was convicted of taking performance enhancement drugs for boosting his late career. Though he claimed his innocence, it was later proved in the investigation that he has been using several boosters for a long time in his career.

• Marion Jones - Like her husband C J Hunter, Marion was also charged for using booster drugs. She refused vehemently and came out clean in 2007 but admitted to lying to the Federal agents about her using performance enhancement drugs. She was later compelled to give back her five Olympic medals.

• Alex Rodriguez - The famous baseball player was found to admit in a sworn in interview of the DEA that he has been using booster drugs from Biogenesis, a Miami backed anti-aging clinic, which he always denied. He was suspended for 162 games in Major League Baseball.

• Tyson Gay - This American sprinter was charged for using steroids in 2013 and had to forfeit his Olympic silver medal. His sentence was reduced from a two-year ban for one year as he had assisted the US Anti-doping agency substantially.

• Justin Gatlin - This sprinter was banned for eight years when he was found positive for using testosterone in July 2006. Though he denied using any performance-enhancing drugs, he accepted the ban fearing a lifetime punishment. However, his good sense saw his ban reduced to four years.