Ben Johnson's 100m Disqualification (1988)

Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson won the 100m final at the 1988 Seoul Olympics in a world record 9.79 seconds — only to be stripped of his gold medal three days later after testing positive for stanozolol. The race, once called "the dirtiest race in history," later saw six of the eight finalists linked to doping, raising the question: was Johnson simply the one who got caught? Compared to the institutionalized corruption of FIFA's scandal (#5), Johnson's case was a single athlete's failure, but its impact on track and field was profound, leading to stricter anti-doping regulations and a 30% increase in out-of-competition tests by 1992.