15 reasons Summer Olympics are better than Winter Olympics
By Brad Weiss
8. Scandals
The Winter Games are known for their scandals, which range from bribes, dirty judges, and a fellow competitor having her competition bashed with a pipe. The Summer Games have had their fair share of scandals as well, but it is the Winter Olympics that are known for their scandals.
The biggest scandal has to be from the 1994 Winter Olympics, when figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was assaulted prior to the games. Tonya Harding’s ex-husband hired a hitman to break her legs, giving Harding a clearer path to the gold. Instead, Kerrigan was only injured and did perform, though she finished with the silver behind Oksana Baiul. The event ruined Harding’s career and forever put a black cloud on women’s figure skating.
There has also been bid bribery, like in 1998, when the International Olympic Committee were accused of taking bribes from Salt Lake Organizing Committee officials. Salt Lake City had tried to get the Winter games for years but fell short. After an investigation, 10 members of the IOC were expelled, and 10 others were sanctioned for taking gifts. The allegations were that they took bribes in the form of direct payments, land purchase agreements, tuition assistance, political campaign donations or charitable donations.
Sure, the Summer Games have had their fair share of scandals, including USA gold-medal sprinter Ben Johnson’s doping, boxer Roy Jones Jr. getting robbed by Park Si-Hun in 1988, and that classic USA/Soviet 1972 Men’s Basketball game, which gave the Soviets three chances to beat Team USA at the buzzer.
However, the Summer Games are thought of for their great moments more than their bad, and the Winter Games are pictured with a crying Nancy Kerrigan saying “Why me?!”
Next: 7. Photo finishes