The audience apparently couldn’t tell what had happened, as they greeted the slaughter with gleeful, blissfully ignorant applause. Due to some breathtakingly inept choreography, the doves were set to be released from an enormous structure that also served as an oversized Olympics torch, but the execution was off, and so rather than flying peacefully into the skies above, the doves were incinerated on live television. Unfortunately, the result was anything but peaceful. ![]() This was during the Cold War, and the two Koreas were still officially at war with one another.* Still, South Korea tried to get the games off to a hopeful start by releasing a flock of doves during the opening ceremony, the intention being to symbolize world peace. ![]() The 1988 Olympics hit an awkward note before the event even started, thanks to a boycott by led by neighboring North Korea. 1988 Summer Games, Seoul: Doves On Fire, Literally Dejected and discouraged, he proceeded to hang around Berlin and eat away his problems.ĭays later, he received some good news: There had been a scoring error, and he’d actually won the match! Unfortunately, he’d eaten so much over the last couple of days that he was now five pounds heavier, and thus no longer qualified as a lightweight. During the 1936 games, the South African boxer was eliminated during the opening round of the lightweight boxing competition. Thomas Hamilton-Brown was almost as unlucky as Bradbury was lucky. Granted, a long look eventually yields an Easter egg – a "2012" hidden amid the horror – but, like an eclipse, it's hard to stare at it long enough to appreciate it.ġ936 Summer Games, Berlin: An Awkward Weigh-In It resembles either Lisa Simpson performing a sex act or a child's illustration of the breakup of Pangaea. It started early, with the unveiling of that painful logo, the colour scheme for which appears inspired by a Nike catalogue. In the words of the Guardian’s Harrison Mooney: The London Games is looking ugly, and I mean that literally. And font buffs were offended at the typeface, with journalist Simon Garfield calling it “ the worst new public typeface in the last 100 years.” Iran was offended because if you rotated the shapes slightly, they appeared to spell out “ZION.” Some Jews were offended because if you rotated the shapes in a slightly different way, they spelled out “NAZI.” Fans of the Simpsons were offended after some sick individual realized that, if you squint, the shapes looked a bit like Lisa Simpson performing fellatio. The London Games aroused outrage before they even began, thanks to the official logo, an inexplicably hideous eyesore that managed to offend just about everybody. Bradbury, who admitted subsequently that he was the weakest skater of the group, cruised into first place and walked home with the gold medal.Ģ012 Summer Games, London: The Worst Logo Ever But this time, the fumble happened during the final lap, and involved every single one of the other skaters. Soon after the final race began, Bradbury was once again in dead last, trailing everyone else by about 15 meters, when the exact same thing happened - his competition crashed into itself and went careening toward the wall. An incredible streak of luck, but surely it wouldn’t hold - right? This allowed him to eek out a second-place victory and qualify for the finals. But after the race, one of the winners was disqualified on a technicality, and Bradbury advanced to the semis by default.ĭuring the semi-finals, Bradbury was in last place when suddenly, three of the skaters in front of him collided with each other. Only the top two skaters would advance to the semis Bradbury came in third, and assumed that was the end of it. He was significantly older than his competition, and during the quarter-finals he was pitted against two of the strongest speed skaters in the games. 2002 Winter Games, Salt Lake City: The Accidental WinnerĪustralian speed skater Steven Bradbury knew he didn’t have a chance. Here's our guide to the six most awkward Olympic moments in the otherwise-glamorous history of the Games. With so many countries competing in so many events in such a short period of time, it's inevitable that the Olympics, in addition to offering a first-class display of talent, can produce moments of first-class awkwardness. The Games are full of dazzling theatrics, heart-racing drama, and awe-inspiring athletic ability - but they're also an inherently bizarre affair, with countries that normally hate each other coming together to compete in arbitrary (and often goofy) sporting events. ![]() When it comes to spectacle, the Olympic Games are in a class of their own.
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