The most notorious moments in Winter Olympics history

In the early days of the Winter Olympics, the event was often complicated by the political ramifications of the times, with war and even the elements causing major roadblocks. The third Winter Games in 1932 were plagued by the Great Depression, which kept many athletes unable to afford to travel to Lake Placid, N.Y. The combination of the lack of attendance and unseasonably warm weather led to the 14-contest field getting dwindled down to only four competitions.

The impact of worldwide politics continued into World War II, when the games were cancelled altogether due to war that raged throughout Europe and Asia. The 1940 Games initially were awarded to Sapporo, Japan, but were taken away due to the nation invading China. The 1944 Games, scheduled to take place in Italy, were called off completely.

The French skier completed a sweep of all three alpine events, but what followed remains one of the biggest controversies in Winter Olympics history. Killy initially did not complete the trifecta victory. Austrian competitor Karl Schranz called for a redo of the event after claiming that a mysterious competitor caused him to stop along his route. In the second run of the race, Schranz won and temporarily posted a time faster than Killy's. However, a review of television footage proved this not to be the case, and Killy was retroactively re-awarded the gold.

After the scandal of ’68, Schranz was back in the news at the next Winter Games, this time battling the concept of amateurism. IOC President Avery Brundage contended that Schranz was not truly an amateur athlete, which was a requirement for participation in the games at the time, after he earned $50,000 a year. Schranz was still allowed to compete in the games, and Brundage was replaced as president of the IOC six months following the event.

After originally being awarded to Denver, the 1976 Games were relocated far away from Colorado, ultimately taking place in Innsbruck, Austria. This was due to voters in the state rejecting the funding proposal to host the games, an early instance of the many financial and location fiascos that would plague the event over the subsequent decades.

How to utilize Olympic facilities following the games has been a problem that has followed many host cities. Controversy came to the Lake Placid Games when it was announced that the vacated facilities would be converted to into a state prison following the Olympics. The first inmate to occupy the federal correctional institution, Ray Brook, would populate the venue later that year.

Amid a heated turf war in Southeast Asia, for the second straight games Taiwan threatened to boycott the Olympics altogether. Why? For not receiving approval of the country's name of preference. Taiwan insisted on being recognized as the “Republic of China,” which the Olympic Committee refused to recognize due to the political ramifications between Taiwan and China at the time. Instead, the committee referred to the country as “Chinese Taipei,” and the country made good on its threat to boycott, leaving the games before the medal round began.

The most infamous scandal in the history of the Olympic Games came in 1994, when American figure skaters Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan’s rivalry turned into a event that grew to legendary proportions. The then-husband of Harding, Jeff Gillooly, set up an attack on Kerrigan via hitman, who assaulted Kerrigan’s knee in the lead-up the games. Kerrigan still went on to win silver at the ’94 games, while Harding finished eighth. Harding also landed three years probation, while her conspirators got prison time.

Scandal was a frequent occurrence at the Nagano Games in 1998. The most notorious in-competition issue came when European judges allegedly conspired to vote along "bloc lines" during the figure skating competition. Cold War nation accomplices were believed to vote in concert and determined outcomes before the events took place. One judge in the event even went as far as to tape-record another judge attempting to secure a peer’s vote.

In snowboarding's debut in the Olympics, the first gold medal recipient nearly was a short-lived one. Canada’s Ross Rebagliati had his gold medal victory repealed briefly due to marijuana found in his system following the event. In the end, the medal was reinstated, as marijuana was not on the list of banned substances for the event.

On four previous occasions, Salt Lake City had unsuccessfully bid to host the games. However, in 1995 the city finally awarded the Olympics. However, three years later, it was discovered that multiple IOC voting members had taken bribes from the Salt Lake City bidding committee. In the end, the games carried on as planned at the location, but many members of the IOC were forced to resign and narrowly avoided prosecution.

Even after the dubious start to the event, the Salt Lake City Games continued to host more controversial moments than any other before it. The voting conspiracies surrounding figure skating continued, as dual gold medals were awarded to both Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze of Russia and original silver medalists Jamie Salé and David Pelletier of Canada after French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne confessed to swaying her vote against the Canada team as part of a larger plan with a collection of European nation judges.

A trio of cross-country skiers — Johann Mühlegg, Larisa Lazutina and Olga Danilova — had their finishes in the 2002 Olympics disqualified after the human growth hormone darbepoetin was found in their systems. The IOC subsequently removed the medals from each competitor.

Coming into the 2002 Games, American speed skater Apolo Ohno was the biggest sensation of the Winter Olympics. However, he nearly missed out on gold, but a foul was called on South Korean skater Kim Dong-Sung, who cut in front of him. Ohno pleaded for a foul to be called, which was awarded, costing the South Korean the gold medal and leading to death threats levied against Ohno from angry Koreans.

Following concerns levied by the World Anti-Doping Agency, the IOC sanctioned Italian authorities to raid the property of the Austrian representatives at the games. The substances that were found led to six Austrian competitors in the biathlon and cross-country ski teams getting banned for life, and the Austrian Olympic Committee was fined over $800,000.

Drugs continued to run rampant at the Turin Games in 2006 when Russian biathlete Olga Medvedtseva had her silver medal stripped following a positive test for carphedon, a stimulant not approved for competition. Medvedtseva was issued a two-year ban and retired before the next Winter Olympics occurred.

Four times in the history of the Winter Olympics death has occurred in the course of preparation. The most recent happened in 2010 when, during a training run, the Georgian luge competitor lost control during a final practice run and collided with an unprotected steel pole while moving at over 89 miles per hour.

Yet again, controversy struck the ranks of figure skating in 2010. After Russian skater Evgeni Plushenko included the quadruple jump in his routine, a feat that is considered the toughest move in the sport, he still lost out on the gold to American Evan Lysacek, who passed on even attempting the maneuver. The outcome outraged many viewers and further damaged the already wounded image of the sport.

Even before the games got underway, Lebanese skier Jackie Chamoun caused a ruckus in her native country after posing for pictures wearing nothing but a thong and ski boots. The Lebanese government claimed she caused damage and shame to the image of the country as a result. She contested that the images were not intended for public release.

Perhaps no Olympic Games to date were plagued by more controversy than the ones held in Sochi. Between extreme cost overruns and calls for boycotts from neighboring nation Georgia, debates ran rampant over the location and ethics of the games being held in Russia. The Olympics struggled with extreme cost overruns, which ballooned to an estimated $55 billion in expenses from an original rate of $12 billion to host. The situation was capped by a massive doping issue with the host nation, which resulted in a 97-page report that chronicled five years of doping cover-ups in Russia that included some 1,000 competitors.

Amid the multitude of competitive issues that plagued the games, the anti-homosexual stance of the Russian administration further complicated the world’s most diverse sporting event. Regarding what was referred to as the spread of “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations,” many LGBTQ+ supporters converged on the games to protest the nation’s right to host the event.

The idea of a unification of any sort between North and South Korea seems as far-fetched of an idea as could be imagined in the games. Despite the thought upsetting many South Koreans, this could be the case when a unified Korean women’s hockey team stands to compete at 2018 Games, which will be held on South Korean soil. It remains to be seen how the two enemy nations can co-exist under one flag.

The most famous team sport of the Winter Olympics will be without many of its greatest players, as the NHL declined to participate. The league had accommodated the last five Olympics but opted against do so for 2018 after the IOC refused to pay for travel and other expenses for NHL competitors.

The biggest story leading into the 2018 Games is that suspension of Russia from the forthcoming Olympics. The decision came following the outcome of the McLaren Report, which spread far-reaching allegations a coordinated mass doping program by the Russian Olympic Committee. Certain athletes who have clean backgrounds and no evident history of doping will be allowed to compete under the banner of the Olympic logo and be known as an “Olympic Athlete from Russia.”

While the next Olympics are still four years away, there is already a handful of problems potentially at hand. Environmental concerns regarding construction and a lack of true winter conditions have thrown the potential for several issues to arise. It remains to be seen how (or if) these problems are effectively remedied.