Do you know that 92 Olympians have been convicted for criminal acts so far? Out of whom 33 are Olympic medalists. Now the 34th name going to be added in this list is of India’s all-time great wrestler Sushil Kumar, a wrestler who was once an icon of Indian sports or a role model for the youth across the country.
Sushil Kumar
Mike Tyson
O.J. Simpson
James Snook
Oscar Pretorius
Bruce Kimball
He has received such a feat in the Olympics which no other Indian could get. He also holds the distinction of being the only world champion in wrestling and has won the most gold medals at the Commonwealth Games. But today, he is accused of killing Sagar Dhankhar of his own akhada.
It is said that glare of fame, wealth and glamour is not digested by everyone. When influence builds, the scope also increases. In such a situation, the selection of a good person is important, but Sushil failed in that, due to which his years of penance got mixed in the dust. Despite losing his first wrestling in the 2008 Olympics, the formula of repechage gave Sushil an opportunity where Sushil after losing his first bout, won a bronze medal. With this victory, he got more respect and money than Abhinav Bindra, the only gold medalist of the Olympics till now.
But after converting Bronze to Silver in the next Olympics, he was in touch with some influential people and not caring about right and wrong, he got trapped in the world of darkness. He forgot that this is a quagmire to earn money. If his wife or any of his relatives had made him understand, then such a situation would not have occurred today. Now the question is whether he will get a chance of repechage round like the Beijing Olympics (where Sushil had won his first Olympic medal) in his life so that he can wash all his allegations and start a new life. Actually, repechage rounds take place between the losers to the finalists.
Here, the case is of the murder of fellow wrestler Sagar Dhankhar, his disciple. From James Snook to Sushil Kumar, history is full of such vicious people from the sports world. Actually, he did not even realize when he finally turned from a star player to a vicious crook.
James Snook won gold in the shooting team event at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics. He had killed the woman he had an extra-marital affair with. Snook was put to death by electrocution. In the 70s, American football star O.J. Simpson murdered his wife and her boyfriend. The incident also tarnished his Hall of Fame image.
Similarly, Bruce Kimball, who won the gold in platform diving in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, became a star after this success, but he also could not digest this success. Two years later, driving with alcohol proved to be costly for him as he crushed two people under his car.
Who can forget the name of Mike Tyson in the boxing world. It would not be wrong to call him the greatest heavyweight boxing champion of all time. This man was imprisoned for six years in a rape case. He was arrested for drugs in 2006. Tyson was such an aggressive boxer that on one occasion he chewed the ear of his opponent Evander Holyfield. Sushil was also accused of chewing the ear of a Kazakhstan wrestler in the semi-final wrestling of the London Olympics.
Argentine star Diego Maradona was awarded the FIFA Player of the Century award. The captain of the team that won the 1986 World Cup is remembered for two brilliant goals in a match against England. One goal was named ‘Hand of God’ and the other goal was called ‘Goal of the century’. He had become addicted to cocaine and his critics started calling him a drug addict.
Golf world’s biggest star Tiger Woods has also been arrested for drunken driving, while this golfer had relationships with many women and he had to pay a big price of getting divorced from his wife. American swimmer Clat Keller, who won five medals, including two golds in Olympic swimming, was arrested for inciting a riot in the US.
In recent years, Oscar Pretorius of South Africa has been found guilty of murdering his girlfriend. This player was popularly known as Blade Runner and was a worldwide brand ambassador of sports for the disabled. The player had prosthetic legs and created a flutter by winning six gold, one silver and one bronze medals at the Paralympics. He later argued that he had killed his girlfriend under a misunderstanding. He was first sentenced to six years and then it was increased to 17 years.
It was a relief for all these bad boys that their medals were not taken away. The Olympic Committee or the organizers took decision to take away medals only if they are caught in doping during the Games and found guilty of indecent behavior on the playground. So far, a hundred athletes have been stripped of their medals for doping alone, including star athletes like Ben Johnson and Marion Jones.
Russian weightlifter Ibragim Samadov was stripped of his Olympic bronze medal at Barcelona 1992 after he refused to lean forward to accept it on the podium and, after taking it in his hand, dropped it onto the floor and walked away. Swedish Greco-Roman wrestler Era Abrahamian refused to accept her bronze medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics against a referee’s decision, but there have been instances when a player has been awarded a medal at the Olympics despite having a professional contract. There have been cases of disqualifications.