When the 1980 US hockey team was playing the USSR in a pre-Olympics exhibition, it was revealed during the game that a Soviet player had a gun under his jersey. The “player” was a KGB agent used to prevent players from defecting to the West.
sports
Italian cyclist Alfredo Binda…
Italian cyclist Alfredo Binda was so overwhelmingly dominating his sport, that he was payed by the organizers of the Giro d’Italia not to race. The sum he received was equivalent to that awarded to the winner.
During the 1936 Berlin Olympics….
During the 1936 Berlin Olympics, two Japanese pole vaulters who tied for second place refused to participate in a tie-breaker. Upon returning to Japan, they cut their medals in half and fused them to one another so each athlete ended up with a half-silver, half-bronze medal.
Pittsburgh is the only city…
Pittsburgh is the only city where all the major sports teams (Steelers, Pirates, Penguins) all share the same colors, as black and gold represent the ingredients to make steel (coal and iron ore).
A high school basketball coach…
A high school basketball coach was fired after his team won 100-0 because the Catholic school he worked for thought that winning by such a wide margin did not show a “Christlike and honourable approach to competition”.
The Miwok (N California) played…
Photo by Flickr
The Miwok (North California) played a game similar to soccer. Played by both sexes, girls were allowed to do anything, including kicking the ball & picking it up & running with it, while boys were only allowed to use their feet, but if a girl was holding the ball he could pick her up and carry her.
In the 1800s, one of the most…
In the 1800s, one of the most popular sports in the world was distance walking which attracted huge crowds and gambling. Thousands of spectators would turn up to watch challenges such as walking 1,000 miles in 1,000 hours.
Mike Tyson offered…
Mike Tyson offered a zoo attendant $10,000 to let him fight a gorilla.
Uruguay’s world cup player…
Uruguay’s world cup player Luis Suárez has bitten three opponents under high pressure situations. He doesn’t know why he does it.
After winning the gold at the 1980…
After winning the gold at the 1980 Olympics, Polish vaulter Wladyslaw Kozakiewicz, in defiance of the jeering Soviet crowd, flipped “the arm”, twice. The Soviets later asked that he be stripped of his medal to which the Polish government replied that it was caused by “involuntary muscle spasms”.