Soon after London was awarded the rights to host this year’s Olympic contests, the large U.K. metropolis began planning, organizing and constructing in anticipation of the July 27th opening ceremonies. As various components of that endeavor have come to fruition, tons of olympics conspiracies were close behind. Many of them carry an air of mystery and controversy. And conspiracy theorists love to depict intricate plots and hidden messages. The far from cuddly mascots, the main stadium and of course the not-so-charming logo. Here are the top 15 mind baffling alleged olympics conspiracies that have been circulating around. Do you think they might be true?
1| The “Zion” Logo
After the 2012 Summer Olympic Games logo was unveiled, Iran alleged that the “2012″ in the logo actually spelled “Zion” and threatened a boycott of the games. And they aren’t the only ones critical of the logo. The multicolored emblem reportedly cost $650,000 and has come under a barrage of criticism for being ugly and a waste of money. Only Iran is calling it Zionist messaging; a claim that the Olympic committee disavows. They also say the logo isn’t ugly, but we’ll let you be the judge of that. Of course, this isn’t the only problem with the logo.
2| The Animated Logo Causes Seizures
The animated version of the 2012 Summer Olympic logo, viewed on the web, caused a reported twelve seizures within hours of posting. The Olympic committee blamed the animation rather than the logo and declined to change the logo.
3| Underage Gymnasts And Fake Passports
During the 2000 summer Olympics, Chinese gymnast Dong Fangxiao won the bronze. Ten years later, she was stripped of her medal when it was discovered that she was only 14 during the 2000 Games. According to Olympic rules, athletes must be 16 or over to compete. And this isn’t the only time that suspicions have been raised about the age of Chinese gymnasts. During the 2008 Olympic Games, Chinese female gymnasts, He Kexin and Jiang Yuyuan, came under scrutiny for their youthful appearance as well as comments made by a Chinese official, but when the Chinese government produced passports showing the girls’ ages as 16, they were allowed to compete.
4| Ticket Scam
According to the British Sunday Times, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) officially allows a 20% mark up on event tickets. This is to allow event organizers to raise money. Some groups apparently think that is not enough, as the Times reports a huge black market for Olympic tickets. In one instance, a Serbian official offered 1,500 tickets for sale and the promise to falsify passports to go along with them. The IOC is threatening an investigation into the allegations.
5| The Cubans
Matos, a Cuban taekwondo competitor, was banned from competing internationally after kicking an Olympic official in the face during the 2008 summer Olympics. To add further insult to injury, Matos also punched an official during the scuffle. Fidel Castro jumped to his defense, accusing the Olympic officials of perpetuating a conspiracy against Cuban athletes.
6| 1996 Bombing Was Political
On July 27, 1996, a bomb went off in Atlanta’s Centennial Park during the Summer Olympic Games. Two people died and 111 were injured. At first, authorities had few leads as to who detonated a forty pound pipe bomb, the largest in history, but were later able to tie Eric Robert Rudolph to the subsequent bombings of two abortion clinics and a lesbian bar. After five years on the run, Rudolph was captured and is currently serving four life sentences. His plea agreement and lack of a public trial has many conspiracy theorists wondering about Rudolph’s motivations and political targets.
7| Fake Attacks
According to conspiracy theorists on Godlike Creations, Top Secret and YouTube, the 2012 Olympics could become the staging ground for a fake attack, orchestrated by an elite group like the Illuminati or the Bilderberg Group. The conspiracy alleges that attack will come in the form of a fake terrorist bombing (emulating the 1996 explosion, above) or alien attack to enact martial law and establish a New World Order. Conspiracy supporters point to the embattled logo as proof that the group behind the forthcoming attacks wants to create a “New Jerusalem” in Britain. “New Jerusalem,” for the uninitiated, refers to a new world order spoken about in the Bible that will precede the apocalypse.
8| Superhuman Athletes
Many conspiracy theorists believe that during the Cold War, East Germany sought to create a race of superhuman communist sports heroes by doping their athletes with a cocktail of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. Evidence for this theory can be found in the story of Heidi Kreger, an Olympic shot put gold medalist. Krieger’s use of drugs caused her to develop mood swings, depression, and other medical conditions. In the 90s, Krieger underwent gender reassignment surgery and claimed that the East German sports officials had used her like a machine.
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