10 Athletes Who Got Away With Cheating

Top 10 Athletes Who Got Away With Cheating

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today were counting down our picks for the sporting superstars who bent the rules a little bit too much for their own personal gain only to find that their punishment did not fit the crime.

#10: Carl Lewis

If everyones on PEDs[a], is it really cheating? Well, the Carl Lewis situation in the 100m final at the 1988 Olympics was certainly an interesting one. Canadas Ben Johnson initially took home gold in that race - but when he tested positive for a banned substance, he was stripped of his title - leaving the silver-medalist, Carl Lewis, as the winner. Later it emerged that Lewis had also failed a test - specifically three different tests during the trials for that years games. In fact, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee was forced to deny that they had covered up 114 different cases of cheating over a twelve year span from that year onwards. Lewis claimed that he accidentally took the banned substances as they were available in over-the-counter medication at the time.

#9: Reggie Bush & Matt Leinart[b]

You know a play is controversial when the entire game gets named after it. For 2005s clash between fierce rivals Notre Dame and USC, the stand-out moment of the matchup came when future NFL star Reggie Bush pushed his teammate and quarterback Matt Leinart into the end zone for the winning touchdown. This was an illegal play. Under any other circumstances, it wouldve been called a foul but this year, the use of instant replays was not mandatory for non-conference games in Division I-A football. Needless to say, this controversy made them change that rule the following season.

#8: East German Women Swimmers

Going from no gold medals in womens swimming at the 1972 Olympic Games to then taking 11 out of 13 gold medals in the 76 Games seems pretty fishy, right? East Germany dominated the 1976 games in Montreal[c], despite having strong competition from other nations. Was it simply a golden generation hitting their stride at the exact same time? Or was it something more sinister? Well, it would later emerge that the East German government had been running a state-sponsored doping program without letting the athletes know. They basically pumped their athletes full of PEDs and let them deal with the consequences. Sure, their gold medals were never taken but their greatest achievement was undoubtedly ruined.

#7: Houston Astros

When it comes to modern baseball, its hard to pull off a sign-stealing trick unless youve got a few people involved. For the Houston Astros, they mustve thought theyd beaten the system with this clever way of cheating. Sign-stealing involves taking the pitch signals done by the oppositions pitcher and finding a way of relaying them to your own teammate. But the Astros went as far as to use a hidden camera and a pre-arranged code that involved banging trash-cans to communicate with their batter. When this ruse was discovered, none of the players were punished and the Astros got to keep their 2017 World Series title.

#6: Antonio Margarito[d]

Antonio Margarito was not the only boxer to be found glove-tampering but he was definitely the highest profile case of his era. Whether the fighter himself knew or not, plaster of Paris, a pasty substance that hardens when it comes into contact with water, had been added to his hand wrapping. Prior to his fight with Shane Mosley, Mosleys trainer had noticed something off with Margaritos wrappings and they were investigated further, revealing the plaster. This called into question the results of Margaritos previous fight against Miguel Cotto where Margarito is suspected to have tampered with his wraps in his 11th round TKO over Cotto.

#5: Dwight Howard

Not all instances of cheating need to be serious or even punishable. For Houston Rockets star, Dwight Howard, he found himself in the most bizarre situation imaginable when it came to light mid-game, that the game-ball was covered in a glue-like substance. Shortly after, Howard admitted that he had been applying the adhesive product, Stickum, to his hands and he had been doing so for quite some time. Seriously, that is a thing that actually happened. The craziest part, though, is that he wasnt even punished for it despite him breaking the rules. So basically, he got caught, gave a clear confession, and everyone just had a big ol laugh about it and moved on as if nothing happened.

#4: Jon Jones

The fighting career of the two-weight UFC champion Jon Jones has been an experience to put it lightly. His accomplishments inside the octagon have been truly stellar - and watching him beat several generations of great fighters has been a joy. But his constant issues with substances and legal problems outside of the cage have only been compounded by the fact that he has also failed several drug-tests in recent years. To this day, only one win of his, a TKO from his second fight against Daniel Cormier[e], has actually been overturned. Jones resumé has an asterisk attached, thats for sure.

#3: Tom Brady

Tom Brady achieved everything there was to achieve in the sport of football, but the Deflategate saga is a truly bizarre blemish in an otherwise exemplary career. Brady was accused of telling officials to deliberately give him under-inflated balls in his Patriots teams AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts, a game they won. But when it emerged that Brady had been using underinflated balls, DeflateGate was born. Brady was suspended for four games, and upon appeal from Brady, the NFL commissioned a 243-page investigative report. In the end, the four-game ban was a mere slap on the wrist, the result of the game stood, and this incident is debated to this day.

#2: Barry Bonds

Baseball has certainly cleaned up its image in recent times - but right when the sport was at a real commercial peak, a huge doping scandal hit. Superstar player Barry Bonds was right at the centre of it all. Seven MVP awards, 14 All-Star picks and considered one of the greatest players of all time. In 2007, his reputation began to take some hits. From there, we began to realize that he had been taking a cocktail of steroids - at least in the final eight years of his career. Although he faced legal challenges, he never did get stripped of his achievements. However, the reputational damage was severe.

#1: Diego Maradona [f]

The 1986 World Cup quarter-final contained two of the most famous goals in football history - and they were both scored by one man. The Goal Of The Century was a cleancut as they come. A surging run by the legendary Diego Maradona that saw him bypass half of the England team before slotting the ball home. Its the infamous Hand Of God that makes our list. Did Diegos hand touch the ball instead of his head? It certainly did. Maradona would deny he used his hand to score the goal for decades. Most importantly, this handball was missed by the ref and the goal stood, setting Argentina on a path to their second World Cup victory.


Which rule-bending incidents do you remember clearly? Let us know in the comments.

[a]pee ee dees

[b]Leinart = LYE-nurt (like "liner" with a "t" at the end) https://youtu.be/8SJYMX80rOw?si=mgcLfdGa4Lbe0778&t=8
NOH-tur dame https://youtu.be/qFI4vHn9foM?si=3TQqY07Fds6SUzgn&t=16
Division I-A = division one ay
[c]pls read as Mun-tree-awl!
[d]ann-TONY-oh mar-gah-REE-toh https://youtu.be/oNhZw252Oak?si=_3b3IGjDuVyD9BOb&t=20
MOZE-lee https://youtu.be/nUozxSpQnNI?si=LtUfIlhiWUWt2DFJ&t=18
mee-GHELL COH-toh https://youtu.be/YXoyy9uEBMM?si=uWU19mXXwApdW5FF&t=52
[e]CORM-yay / CORMY-yay https://youtu.be/zd3fsNYv07M?si=woK4MQ81lY1fw8Kb&t=53
[f]dee-AY-goh mare-uh-DONNA https://youtu.be/MKIFPaR_ZIo?si=P_OIK6mAt8oB1QVk&t=232