Top 5 Cheaters In The World Of Sports
Cheaters have always been a part of sports. Once athletes get a taste as a world champion, they'll do whatever it takes to stay at the top and hang onto the fame and glory. All the teams and players listed below have something in common: They all denied, denied and denied, until giving up and revealing all. From Armstrong to the Patriots, here are CBSLA's biggest cheaters in sports.
Lance Armstorng (Cycling) – After fooling everyone for many years on how great he is, Lance Armstrong finally admitted that he was one of biggest cheaters in the world of sports. After winning seven Tour de France titles, the U.S. antidoping agency in 2012 charged and banned Armstrong for life for use of illicit performance-enhancing drugs. Although Armstrong denied the allegations, the agency stripped him of all his medals for winning the Tour. After a full year of denial, Armstrong finally admitted to doping to Oprah Winfrey on her network on Jan. 17, 2013.
Rosie Ruiz (Marathon) – People like Rosie Ruiz are the reasons why marathon officials make runners have tracking devices on their shoes. In the Boston Marathon in 1980, Ruiz fooled many people after finishing the race without breaking a sweat. Two Harvard students knew something was fishy as they remember Ruiz coming out of a crowd of spectators a half mile from the finish line. The media immediately started investigating who this person was. When a reporter asked her if she has been doing hard intervals, she answered "What are intervals?"
Marion Jones/Ben Johsnon (Track) –Both these sprint athletes are two of the biggest cheaters in Olympic history. Ben Johnson raised eyebrows after upsetting reigning Olympic champion Carl Lewis and setting a new world record of 9.79 seconds. Three days later, the International Olympic Committee stripped Johsnon of his gold medal and world record after he tested positive for steroids. The IOC awarded Carl Lewis the gold medal. As for Jones, she was also stripped for her three gold and two bronze medals for taking steroids during the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She also served six months in jail for lying to a federal agent in 2003 about her use of steroids.
Baseball players on Mitchell reports plus Ryan Braun (MLB) –Major League Baseball's Mitchell report is the largest investigation in any sport for use of performance-enhancing drugs. The 20-month investigation named 89 big-league players alleged to have used steroids or other drugs. Among those named were Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Andy Pettitte and Eric Gagne. As for Ryan Braun, he was suspended for 65 games for getting caught using PEDs. Although he was not on the Mitchell report, he was linked with Biogenesis clinic, along with Alex Rodriguez, who was suspended for a whole season. He, like all the other athletes, pleaded his innocence until he finally admitted to doping on Aug. 22, 2013. Braun won and kept his 2011 NL MVP.
Patriots (NFL) - Bill Belichick is under scrutiny after Tom Brady and his team used 11 underinflated balls during the AFC championship romp against the Indianapolis Colts. Both Brady and Belichick claim they had no idea the balls were deflated or know they got like that. The balls were consistently 15 percent under the league-mandated pressure. Earlier in the year, Brady said he loves deflated balls. Is it a coincidence? We'll see what happens in this case. Belichick was caught cheating in 2007, when the NFL handed him a $500,000 fine for spying on an opponent's defensive signals.
