15 Conspiracy Theories About The Olympics

Michael Phelps Lost

Did Michael Phelps really deserve his seventh gold medal at the 2008 Olympics? According to eagle-eyed conspiracy theorists, video and photo evidence from the event may indicate that Phelps actually lost the race by 1/100 of a second. An entire site, 001ofasecond.com, sprang up to accuse the U.S. of paying off officials for Phelps' win and even suggested that the second-place swimmer was involved. The Olympic committee pointed out that other angles seem to prove the case for Phelps.

"Zion" Logo

After the 2012 Summer Olympic Games logo was unveiled, Iran alleged that the "2012" in the logo actually spelled "Zion" and threatened a boycott of the games. And they aren't the only ones critical of the logo. The multicolored emblem reportedly cost $650,000 and has come under a barrage of criticism for being ugly and a waste of money. Only Iran is calling it Zionist messaging; a claim that the Olympic committee disavows. They also say the logo isn't ugly, but we'll let you be the judge of that. Of course, this isn't the only problem with the logo

Underage Gymnasts

During the 2000 summer Olympics, Chinese gymnast Dong Fangxiao won the bronze. Ten years later, she was stripped of her medal when it was discovered that she was only 14 during the 2000 Games. According to Olympic rules, athletes must be 16 or over to compete. And this isn't the only time that suspicions have been raised about the age of Chinese gymnasts. During the 2008 Olympic Games, Chinese female gymnasts, He Kexin and Jiang Yuyuan, came under scrutiny for their youthful appearance as well as comments made by a Chinese official, but when the Chinese government produced passports showing the girls' ages as 16, they were allowed to compete.

Ticket Scam

According to the British Sunday Times, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) officially allows a 20% mark up on event tickets. This is to allow event organizers to raise money. Some groups apparently think that is not enough, as the Times reports a huge black market for Olympic tickets. In one instance, a Serbian official offered 1,500 tickets for sale and the promise to falsify passports to go along with them. The IOC is threatening an investigation into the allegations.

The Cubans

Matos, a Cuban taekwondo competitor, was banned from competing internationally after kicking an Olympic official in the face during the 2008 summer Olympics. To add further insult to injury, Matos also punched an official during the scuffle. Fidel Castro jumped to his defense, accusing the Olympic officials of perpetuating a conspiracy against Cuban athletes.

Black September Member Lives

During the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Israeli athletes were taken hostage by a Palestinian terrorist group named Black September. During the ensuing crisis, 11 people were killed including athletes, coaches and a West German police officer. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir and the Israeli Defense Committee reportedly charged the Mossad with tracking down and killing those responsible for the attack. As of 2012, only one of the Palestinian gunmen is still believed to be alive.

1996 Bombing Was Political

On July 27, 1996, a bomb went off in Atlanta's Centennial Park during the Summer Olympic Games. Two people died and 111 were injured. At first, authorities had few leads as to who detonated a forty pound pipe bomb, the largest in history, but were later able to tie Eric Robert Rudolph to the subsequent bombings of two abortion clinics and a lesbian bar. After five years on the run, Rudolph was captured and is currently serving four life sentences. His plea agreement and lack of a public trial has many conspiracy theorists wondering about Rudolph's motivations and political targets.

The Animated Logo Causes Seizures

The animated version of the 2012 Summer Olympic logo, viewed on the web, caused a reported twelve seizures within hours of posting. The Olympic committee blamed the animation rather than the logo and declined to change the logo.

Fake Attacks

According to conspiracy theorists on Godlike Creations, Top Secret and YouTube, the 2012 Olympics could become the staging ground for a fake attack, orchestrated by an elite group like the Illuminati or the Bilderberg Group. The conspiracy alleges that attack will come in the form of a fake terrorist bombing (emulating the 1996 explosion, above) or alien attack to enact martial law and establish a New World Order. Conspiracy supporters point to the embattled logo as proof that the group behind the forthcoming attacks wants to create a "New Jerusalem" in Britain. "New Jerusalem," for the uninitiated, refers to a new world order spoken about in the Bible that will precede the apocalypse.

Superhuman Athletes

Many conspiracy theorists believe that during the Cold War, East Germany sought to create a race of superhuman communist sports heroes by doping their athletes with a cocktail of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. Evidence for this theory can be found in the story of Heidi Kreger, an Olympic shot put gold medalist. Krieger's use of drugs caused her to develop mood swings, depression, and other medical conditions. In the 90s, Krieger underwent gender reassignment surgery and claimed that the East German sports officials had used her like a machine.

Rigged Basketball Championship

During the 1972 Olympics, the U.S. battled the Soviets for the gold medal in men's basketball. During the last seconds of the game, with the U.S. up by three points, the Soviet coaches appeared to call a timeout. Another play was run, and the Soviets failed to score. The U.S. thought they had won, but Olympic officials allowed yet another play because they claimed the clock hadn't been reset properly after the timeout. This time, with their do-over, the Soviets finally scored. The Americans refused to accept their silver medals under rumors that the game had been rigged, although no evidence has ever emerged to support this theory.

Scoreboard Cheating

In 1976, Soviet pentathlete Boris Onischenko took unsportsmanlike conduct to a whole new level. He installed a device in his fencing sword that, when activated, would cause the electronic scoring system to record a hit. The device was discovered and Onischenko and the rest of the Soviet pentathlete team were disqualified. Since the incident, Onischenko went into seclusion and has never made a public comment about it.

Judges Rigging Games

In 2002, Russian figure skating pair Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze won the gold in the short program over the Canadians Jamie Salé and David Pelletier. The win was controversial because the Russians were not penalized for a fall during their program. While the judges in question denied any wrongdoing, the ensuing controversy led to accusations of collusion among the judges and the Canadians' silver medal was later upgraded to a gold. The scandal led to many reforms in how Olympic judges score figure skating.

The 2002 Winter Olympic Bid Scandal

The most famous bribery case involving the Games is arguably the 2002 Winter Olympic Bid Scandal, where members of the IOC were accused of taking bribes from the Salt Lake City Olympic Committee during the bidding process. Ten members of the IOC were expelled and another ten were sanctioned in the wake of the scandal. Charges of bribery and fraud were brought against Tom Welch and Dave Johnson, the heads of the Salt Lake City committee. The accused were later acquitted, however, and Salt Lake hosted the Games.

1924 Olympics Causes World War II

In 1924, Germany was still recovering from her disastrous defeat in WWI, looking to regain its national pride. However, due to ill feelings about the war, the rest of the participating nations voted to ban German athletes from the games, deeply wounding that country's patriotic pride. Within months, nationalistic movements began to brew; within the year, Hitler's meteoric rise to power had begun. Perhaps if Germany had been allowed to participate in the international Games, Hitler's nationalist hatred wouldn't have found such a ready audience.

Source : http://www.trutv.com