15 Of The Most Brazen Attempts At Cheating In Professional And Amateur Sports
![15 Of The Most Brazen Attempts At Cheating In Professional And Amateur Sports](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/9/4/779394_320x180.jpg)
Pro wrestler/governor/conspiracy nut Jesse “The Body” Ventura said it best: “Win if you can, lost if you must, but always cheat.”
Cheating has been around ever since the first caveman pointed at something behind another caveman, forcing him to turn around, and then clubbing him in the back of the head with a sharp rock. It's not the the most admirable thing to do and it is totally unfair, but it can get results. For some people, it is worth sacrificing your moral fiber in exchange for victory, money, and endorsement deals.
The big thing is that if you're going to bother to cheat, at least be smart about it. Sure, some folks do get caught, but many cheaters have gotten caught for incredibly dumb reasons. Sometimes they even fail at cheating before they even start.
Here are 15 of the most blatant attempts at cheating that got discovered after a big “oops” or just because no one cared that it happaned:
![The dirtiest race in history CRACKED.COM 6 of 8 finalists from a 1988 record-breaking 100-meter race would later go down for doping. Most notably, the winner, Ben Johnson, was doped up in that very race. Ironically, upon receiving his medal, he said this world record will last 50 years, maybe 100.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/9/2/779392.jpg)
Source: CNN
![The Whizzinator CRACKED.COM When airport security flagged Vikings running back Onterrio Smith for a tube of toothpaste, they found something much weirder: a prosthetic penis and dried urine. He tried to say it was a gift for his cousin; a dubious claim, considering he already had two failed drug tests under his belt.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/9/3/779393.jpg)
Source: ESPN
![The racehorse who mysteriously runs faster in the fog CRACKED.COM In 1990, a horse with 23-1 odds of winning mysteriously beat the field, without breaking a sweat or dirtying its bandages. It was found that Sylvester Carmouche had simply chilled out in the fog for a lap or two, before jumping back into the race at the very end.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/9/0/779390.jpg)
Source: People
![Bloodgate CRACKED.COM Due to some weird rugby rule that we won't pretend to understand, a UK team had to figure out a sneaky way to get their best kicker back on the field. Tom Williams pretended to be injured the only way to trigger the needed substitution -- by chomping a blood capsule and feigning a head injury.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/8/6/779386.jpg)
Source: The Guardian
![A marathoner took the subway to the finish line CRACKED.COM After Roise Ruiz barely broke a sweat in her impressive Boston Marathon win, she was found to have simply skipped most of the race. Upon closer inspection, they figured out that she'd also taken the subway to the finish line in NYC - and only got a spot in that race by claiming to have a fatal brain tumor.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/8/9/779389.jpg)
Source: Time
![Spain's fraudulent Paralympics team CRACKED.COM A few years after winning gold in the 2000 Paralympics, basketball player Carlos Ribagorda returned his gold medal and came clean: Spain had filled out their roster with athletes who had no handicaps whatsoever, going full The Ringer and ostensibly faking the mental handicaps they claimed to have.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/8/4/779384.jpg)
Source: The Guardian
![Boris nenko invented an age-defying epee CRACKED.COM The Soviet fencer had a legendary career as a pentathelete, but he resorted to some Rube Goldberg-esque tactics to maintain an edge as he aged. He was found to have rigged his fencing sword with an electronic mechanism that would trick the system into awarding him a point on command.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/8/8/779388.jpg)
Source: The Guardian
![Abortion doping CRACKED.com The East German women's swim team was... suspiciously elite from 1976-1988. All manner of abuse, including forced doping, has been alleged, but abortion doping is the most gruesome. The practice involves artificial insemination, and subsequent abortion, in the belief that the hormones brought on by pregnancy can provide an athletic edge.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/8/3/779383.jpg)
Source: Snopes
![The Hand of God CRACKED.COM Soccer player Diego Maradona scored on a deliberate hand ball in the 1986 World Cup, but the refs didn't notice, SO the goal counted. Maradona himself dubbed it the Hand of God, and contends that it's not technically cheating.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/8/1/779381.jpg)
Source: The Guardian
![The Saints handed out injury-based bonuses CRACKED.COM From 2009 to 2011, defensive coordinator Gregg Williams set up a scheme that incentivised his players to injure their opponents. Williams was booted from the NFL indefinitely, but head coach Sean Peyton was merely suspended for a season.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/8/0/779380.jpg)
Source: ESPN
![The FBI outed an NBA referee CRACKED.COM Referee Tim Donaghy apparently got in deep with some mobsters, and was trying to pay off his debts by betting on the games he was officiating. The NBA didn't even notice the FBI caught on while investigating said mobsters, and told commissioner David Stern come get your boy.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/7/9/779379.jpg)
Source: NY Times
![Lester Hayes cosplayed as the Swamp Thing CRACKED.COM NFL players used to put a bit of Stickum -- an adhesive goop - on their hands to increase friction. Hayes noticed there was no rule against slathering his entire body in the stuff, and did just that for a few years. In 1981, the league finally enacted the Lester Hayes Rule: no Stickum.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/8/5/779385.jpg)
Source: ESPN
![Panama Lewis and his little black bottle CRACKED.COM In a 1982 bout, boxer Aaron Pryor was getting ass kicked for several rounds, before his trainer, Panama Lewis, had him chug from a mysterious tincture. Some say it was a legal antihistamine, but others claim it was cocaine or even ammonia. Whatever was in there, it completely reinvigorated Prior, who miraculously came back to win the fight.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/8/2/779382.jpg)
Source: Boxing.com
![The phantom goalie CRACKED.COM A Brazilian ourth-division soccer club was caught sending their masseur onto the field to plug up the goal during a crucial late-match play. He actually made two impressive saves to maintain a tie game!](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/8/7/779387.jpg)
Source: Daily Mail
![Whitey Ford and his miraculous Gunk Balls CRACKED.COM The Yankee pitcher started gooping up the ball with mud, and later with a signature gunk made of baby oil, turpentine, and resin. But he says he only did it later in his career: I didn't cheat in 1963 when I won twenty-four games. Well, maybe a little.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/9/1/779391.jpg)