Surely no one would disagree that the worst moment in Olympic history took place at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. And it will come as no surprise to readers of this countdown of the 10 worst moments in Olympic history that the Munich massacre will appear in the number one spot. But what of the rest? What other moments in Olympic history cast the grimmest shadows over this otherwise shining light of worldwide rituals?
10. Leading up to the 1936 Summer Olympics, the International Olympic Committee expelled from its ranks Ernest Lee Jahnke, former Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President Herbert Hoover and the son of a German immigrant, after he tried to convince athletes to boycott that year's Summer Olympic Games in Berlin, in protest of Hitler's Nazi rule of Germany (and exacerbated by his proclamation that only members of the Aryan race would be permitted to compete for the country).
9. During the 1912 Summer Olympics, Jim Thorpe of the U.S. won the gold medals in both the decathlon and pentathlon, only to have them both stripped from him after it was discovered that he had been a professional minor league baseball player three years prior. It took until 1983, 30 years after Thorpe's death, before those medals (and Thorpe's good name) were restored to him.
8. In what became notoriously dubbed "The 2002 Winter Olympics Bid Scandal", several members of the International Olympic Committee were forced to resign when it was revealed that they were accepting bribes in exchange for their votes to have Salt Lake City, Utah be the host to that year's games.
7. In 1988, Park Si-Hun, a South Korean boxer, beat Roy Jones Jr. of the U.S. in a controversial judge's decision, split 3-2, despite the fact that Jones had thoroughly and relentlessly pummeled his opponent for 3 rounds, having landed 86 punches against Park's meager 32. Supposedly, Park even acknowledged this inequity by apologizing to Jones after the decision was made. Soon thereafter, one of the judges admitted wrongdoing and all three of the judges who voted against Jones were later suspended, though even after an investigation lasting until 1997, it is still not known whether or how the alleged collusion took place.
6. Twenty-eight countries, from Algeria to Zambia, boycotted the 1976 Summer Olympics in the protest of New Zealand's participation, after the country's rugby team continued playing South Africa, a country officially banned from the events as of 1964 because of apartheid. Other countries that did not participate (though for different reasons) included Zaire, the Republic of China, and the People's Republic of China.
5. In 1988, sprinter Ben Johnson of Canada was stripped of the gold medal he'd won in the 100 meter dash when, after the event, he was found to have tested positive for steroids.
4. Another massive boycott of the Summer Olympics occurred in 1980, this time led by the U.S. in protest against the Soviet's invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Sixty-five countries in total participated in the boycott, giving that year's games the lowest international turnout of any Olympic Games since 1956.
3. So many things went wrong during the 2004 Summer Olympics, it's impossible to pick just one to represent the disaster that that year's games became. Among the travesties occurring that year - which included an American volleyball player being arrested for assault, a dismissed U.S. Tae Kwan Do coach suing the I.O.C. with allegations of racism, suspicions of wrongdoing amongst officiates of the swimming and gymnastics competitions, and interference from spectators during the men's marathon and diving competitions - over 20 athletes in all different events were disqualified for testing positive for steroids.
2. Prior to the start of the 1994 Winter Olympics, figure skater Tonya Harding's ex-husband arranges to have her rival, Nancy Kerrigan, attacked. After an investigation following the games, Harding was banned from ever participating in the Olympics again.
1. The event that has gone down in infamy as the singular worst moment in Olympic history was the hostage crisis and ensuing massacre of 11 members of the Israeli team by a Palestinian terror organization called Black September that took place during the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich, West Germany.
Fortunately, none of these stains - however reprehensible or gruesome - has diminished the enduring promise of international cooperation and solidarity that the Olympic Games continue to provide for all of us.