Sports Scandals

There have been many sports scandals throughout the years. Although some sports seem as if they may not be touched by such things, facts prove that no sport is immune. Two of the biggest and most violent sports scandals involved the seemingly innocent sport of figure skating and the already violent world of boxing.

The 1994 incident involving Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan is one of the best known and outrageous sports scandals. At a practice session for that year's U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Nancy Kerrigan was viciously attacked by Shane Stant, hired by Harding's ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, and bodyguard, Shawn Eckhardt. While Kerrigan was engaged in an interview, Stant clubbed her in the knee. Determining that Harding was in on the scandal, the U.S. Figure Skating Association not only revoked her 1994 title, but they also banned Harding for life from any future events sanctioned by the association.

One of the most infamous sports scandals involves former heavyweight boxing champion, Mike Tyson. The incident that occurred on June 6, 1997, illustrates taking violence in sports to a whole new level. In 1996, Evander Holyfield stripped Tyson of the heavyweight title. In their 1997 rematch, Tyson began biting Holyfield's right ear. The fight was stopped and then soon resumed. Tyson was apparently not deterred from his mission, and he attacked Holyfield again. This time his biting was a bit more extreme, leading to a large portion of Holyfield's ear being torn off. It was later found in the ring after Tyson was disqualified.

It seems as if no sport is safe when it comes to sports scandals. Even though these athletes risked their entire careers, they seemed to feel their actions were necessary. Both Tonya Harding and Mike Tyson paid greatly for their indiscretions.