The Dark Side of Athletes
Athletes. We see them on the TV screen landing knockout punches, making great saves, and
achieving comeback victories. But what happens when the lights dim and the crowds go silent?
Behind all the adrenaline, glory, and victories? If you think you know everything about your
favorite sports stars, think again because today we’ll dive into the darker side of these athletes.
Ben Johnson Now, doping scandals are nothing new in the sports
field. Throughout history, athletes have been willing to ingest just about anything to enhance
their performance. For them, all they seek is victory, and the path towards it is none of their
concern. When Canadian track star Ben Johnson won gold in the 100m at the Olympic Games in Seoul,
South Korea, on September 24, 1988, he not only established a new world record but also defeated
his American rival Carl Lewis. In the press conference aSerward, he eulogized and I quote,
“a gold medal that’s something no one can take away from you.” But it turns out they could take
it away from him. And they did. Two days later, when he tested posiXve for the steroid stanozolol.
But it wasn’t as dark as what Lance Armstrong did. Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong was once considered the best cyclist in the world. In the late 1990s and early
2000s, Armstrong seemingly had it all: He had beaten tesXcular cancer; he was daXng famed singer
Sheryl Crow; and he just kept winning the Tour de France with seven consecuXve Xtles from 1999 to
2005. He even took home the bronze medal at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. But his
stardom came crashing down when it was revealed in 2012 aSer a major invesXgaXon and a heap of
evidence that he’d been doping for years. The world had finally discovered the dark reason
behind Armstrong’s outstanding performances. His fall from grace was swiS, with his
record Tour de France victories stripped, a lifeXme ban from compeXXve cycling handed down
by the UCI, a remi^ance of his Olympic medal, a $5-million-dollar se^lement paid to the United
States government, and countless lost endorsement revenue. Despite losing all his Xtles and being
shamed by the sport, Armstrong said in 2019 that he wouldn’t have done anything differently. “We
did what we had to do to win. It wasn’t legal but I wouldn’t change a thing.” That’s shocking,
but what Maradona did was on a whole new level. Diego Maradona
Diego Maradona, one of the greatest footballers ever, was also infamous for his cocaine addicXon.
Leading ArgenXna to victory in the 1986 World Cup, his career was marred by doping scandals and
erraXc behavior. From a 15-month ban in 1991 to his dramaXc expulsion from the 1994 World Cup aSer
tesXng posiXve for mulXple substances, Maradona’s legacy is a mix of brilliance and controversy.
ASer scoring a superb goal in the game against Greece in the first round, he famously celebrated
by running towards a TV camera, screaming with elaXon, eyes bulging out of his head. The
image has become iconic in ArgenXna and serves as a reminder to many there about how many Xmes
Maradona, despite being the people’s hero, also frequently disappointed a great many of his fans.
Maria Sharapova Maria Sharapova burst onto the tennis scene in
2004 and quickly assumed the role of tennis’s glamour girl with five grand slam Xtles under
her belt. Not only is she the first Russian woman with a world no. 1 ranking, but she is also
the first premier tennis star in history to fail a doping test and has admi^ed to using the banned
endurance-enhancing drug known as meldonium. The list of athletes involved in
doping scandals does not end here. But doping is just a minor footnote
among the more scandalous crimes. So if you thought doping was bad,
wait unXl you hear the rest of it. Oscar Pistorius
Eleven years ago, on ValenXne’s Day of 2013, Oscar Pistorius
went from being a sports hero who inspired millions with his dedicaXon and determinaXon to
an internaXonally known villain when he shot and killed his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in her
hometown of Pretoria. It was the beginning of the decline of an athlete who unXl that day had become
a Paralympics idol not only for his successes but also for his fight for equality, becoming the
first double amputee to compete in the Olympic games as he had his legs amputated below the knee
and fi^ed with prostheXcs at just 11 months old. The former sprinter claimed aSer his arrest
that he mistook his partner for an intruder. Pistorius’s defense team argued self-defense while
the prosecuXon painted a picture of a premeditated crime. The police later revealed a different side
of Pistorius filled with jealousy and previous arguments in the relaXonship as witnessed by
several neighbors who did not support the version of the athlete. Eventually, he was sentenced to
more than 13 years in prison. The high-profile murder trial exposed the now 37-year-old’s darker
side: offering glimpses of a dangerously volaXle man with a penchant for guns, beauXful women, and
fast cars. In 2009, he had spent a night in jail aSer allegedly assaulXng a 19-year-old woman at
a party in a case that was se^led out of court. Two years later, he was accused of firing a
gun through the sunroof of an ex-girlfriend’s moving car. Weeks before he shot Steenkamp, he
discharged a gun by accident at a Johannesburg restaurant. Violence and sports do not mix and the
result is oSen nothing less than serious trouble. Karl Malone
Karl Malone is considered to be one of the greatest power forces in NBA history.
A 14-Xme NBA all-star and 11-Xme member of the all-NBA first team, he ranks third in all-Xme NBA
career points. If that wasn’t impressive enough, he also holds the record for the most number
of NBA free throws a^empted and made. There is no denying he is one of the greats, but as any
sports fan knows, great on-court performance does not mean you haven’t done some pre^y messed
up things off the court. Let’s rewind to the early 1980s. While playing for the Bulldogs at
Louisiana Tech University, the then 20-year-old Karl impregnated 13-year-old Gloria Bell, who
he claimed was his girlfriend. Bell said that her family declined to press statutory rape
charges at the Xme as it was clear Malone was heading for a big NBA career. Malone later
denied paternity of the child, Demetress Bell, future NFL lineman. Bell’s family sued Malone and
eventually se^led out of court with the condiXon that the basketball star was acknowledged as the
father of Demetress Bell. Malone finally met his son when he turned 17 but reportedly told him
that “it was too late for him to be his father and he’d have to make it on his own.” In 2014, he
reunited with Demetress, and in 2018 Malone said that he talks to his son “nearly every day.”
Malone has faced another lawsuit from Bonita Ford with whom he had twins Daryl and Cheryl Ford.
He was also accused of harassing Vanessa Bryant, the wife of the late Kobe Bryant. Malone has his
great list of infamous deeds, but Mike Tyson’s dark side is one to be feared.
Mike Tyson Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike
Tyson may be an all-star athlete, but he has a rap sheet as long as his list of accolades.
In 1992, Tyson was famously convicted of rape per The New York Times. His vicXm was an 18-year- old
Miss Black America contestant. He was sentenced to a whopping ten years in prison, but four of those
years were suspended, and in the end, he only served three years of his six-year sentence.
He was also accused of domesXc assault by his first wife Robin Givens, who claimed that she was
scared of her husband. Tyson’s worst moment in the ring came amid his comeback aSer his prison
sentence. In a rematch with Evander Holyfield, who had stopped Tyson in their first Xtle bout a
year prior, Tyson bit Holyfield’s ear off clean and was subsequently disqualified from the fight,
fined, and suspended. This was a clear glimpse of Tyson’s brutality and savage mindset. Let’s
now step onto something more controversial. Hope Solo
Hope Solo, a celebrated goalkeeper of the US women’s naXonal soccer team, World Cup champion,
and two-Xme Olympic gold medalist, may also be the most controversial woman in sports history.
Solo’s history of violence began in her senior year of high school when she had a restraining
order filed against her by another student whom Hope had punched three Xmes in the face. Hope’s
biggest controversy, however, was the assault on her half-sister Teresa Obert and her 17-year-old
nephew on June 21, 2014. She was arrested on domesXc violence charges aSer the police arrived
to find Solo intoxicated and upset, and her sister and nephew visibly injured. Solo’s nephew had a
bleeding cut on his leS ear and scratch marks on his arms. The charges against Solo, who entered a
not-guilty plea, were officially dropped in 2018. Her record of scandals does not end here. In
2022, Hope was found by two police officers passed out in her car in a Walmart parking lot
with the engine running and her two-year-old twins in the backseat reeking of alcohol. She
was arrested but refused to submit to a breathalyzer test. A police officer obtained a
search warrant for a blood sample and found that Solo had a blood alcohol level of 0.24. That
is three Xmes North Carolina’s legal limit of .08. She also tested posiXve for THC. Despite
the long sheet of controversies behind her, Hope conXnues to label herself as the vicXm, provoking many sports fans to call
her a narcissist and psychopath. Scandals and controversies are a part of the
sports world, but which of these athletes do you think deserves a second chance? Tell us
in the comments. Make sure to like this video, subscribe for more intriguing content, and hit the
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