Any list of Olympic scandals must begin with the most notorious occurrence ever to hit the Games. It was 1972 when Munich hosted the Olympic Games. It was also a time of great tension in the Middle East, and the Olympic Games would not be spared the hardship of their reality. The Palestinian group Black September took Israeli athletes hostage. Despite long hours of negotiation, the standoff ended in tragedy when the group members were shot, but not before executing 11 Israelis.

That terrible event overshadowed another 1972 Olympic scandal that deserves to be on this list. The US basketball team was up against Russia’s in the championship game. When final the clock ran out, the US had won 50-49. However, the US celebrations were interrupted when the referees informed them that they had to put up lost time on the clock because of a timeout. Russia lost again. But again, the referees put 3 more seconds on the clock, and in that time Russia sunk a hoop to win 51-50.

The list goes on with numerous cases of doping and drug use that has resulted in athletes losing their medals. There was the Scot Alain Baxter who won a gold medal in Salt Lake City in 2002, but lost it when he tested positive for meth. Then there was the American athlete Jim Thorpe who lost his 1912 pentathlon gold medal from the Swedish Games for having competed professionally in sports (which used to be against the rules). Sometimes doping goes bad, as it did for Knud Enemark Jensen. He was a Danish cyclist who in the 1960 Rome Games took a drug that killed him before he could even compete.

Scandals also happen because of simple (or complicated) cheating schemes. Fred Lorz won the 1904 gold medal for the marathon, until they discovered that for 11 miles he got a ride in his manager’s car! Then there were the Press sisters of Russia, who turned out to be men. The fencer Boris Onishchenko took cheating to the next level with his rather advanced sword that registered hits without actually touching his opponent.

Other scandals have resulted from simple bribery, like when Utah secured its spot for 1999. Then there are the scandals that result from pure violence, like when Tonya Harding had Nancy Kerrigan attacked in 1994, or when Hitler was present at the 1936 games and refused to give black athletes their medals. There have also been boycotts. The Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan resulted in their 1980 Moscow Games being boycotted by dozens of countries.

Finally, sometimes scandals have a positive side. Mexico City’s 1968 games saw two black American athletes raise their fists in a protest against racism. Although the Games attacked them for expressing their political ideas, many people admired their courage.