Following the revelation that former 100m world record holding sprinters Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell, as well as up to 6 other Jamacian athletes were found guilty of using banned performance enhancing drugs we decided to look back at 5 of the worst drug cheats in sporting history.
Lance Armstrong
The most prolific doping case in sports history, allegations against the worlds most famous cyclist, model citizen and philanthropist began in 1999 and continued up until his revelation that he doped on Oprah earlier this year. The former cancer sufferer claimed that it's impossible to win the Tour De France, something he achieved 7 times, without drugs. Not only did he cheat and lie for over decade he also successfully sued a number of people who publicly accused him during this period.
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Michelle Smith
The Irishwoman took the 1996 Atlanta Olympics by storm when she claimed three gold medals despite only three years previously not even being ranked in the top 25 in any swimming event. Two years later, after a random test, she was banned from competition by swimming's governing body, FINA, for four years following a ruling she had tampered with a urine sample taken at her home.
Marion Jones
Once labelled as the fastest woman on earth, the multiple gold medal winning Olympian had long been accused of doping by many. She was stripped of all five medals after admitting in 2007 that she was using performance-enhancing drugs – a designer steroid called the "clear" at the time of the games. On top of it all she was handed a 6 month prison sentence for lying to federal officers about her doping.
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Barry Bonds
The poster child for doping in sports before Lance Armstrong's revelations, Bonds was an All Star baseball player who was considered one of the best in his generation. Reports of doping began to surface after a very strong 2001 season in which Bonds broke numerous records including the most home runs in a season (73). Became embroiled in the BALCO steroids scandal and was indicted in 2007 on charges of obstruction of justice. Has never fully admitted use, but was denied entry into the Baseball Hall Of Fame earlier this year on these grounds.
Just About Every 100m Sprinter
As well as the recently revealed Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell, Sprinters such as Justin Gatlin, Linford Christie and perhaps most famously, Canadian Ben Johnson have been striped of medals and records because of doping allegations and failed tests. Johnson, the winner the 100m final in Seoul 1988 was striped of Gold after testing positive in what is known as one of the dirtiest races in history, 6 of the 8 finalists have been involved in drug inquiries including Linford Christie and Carl Lewis. Check out this interesting article from the Daily Mail in which they outline just how bad it was back then.
