Foul Play The Dark Arts of Cheating in Sport

by Rowbottom, Mike

• ISBN13: 9781408155790
• ISBN10: 1408155796
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2013-08-27
• Publisher: A&C Black

Summary

Athletes have gone to enormous lengths to cheat in pursuit of an illusive win. While there are many high-profile cheating scandals such as Ben Johnson being stripped of the gold medal in track and field in the 1988 Olympics for doping, there are myriad other examples, often bizarre and stupid, of athletes bending the rules. This is their story, their final achievement of fame, albeit ignominy. Foul Playexplores cheating in sports in all its absurdity. Stories featured include: drugs in many forms and delivery methods, claiming a marathon victory despite having driven the middle section of the race, plus an assortment of on-the-field shirt-pulling, excessively bouncing tennis balls to make your opponent wait, and attempts to demoralize an opponent with trash talking, mimicking, and other "mind games." The book also looks at wider issues such as what actually constitutes cheating in each sport, what in the culture of a sport influences the standards, and which sports tend to be cleaner and without sin. Sports fans will readily recognize the fanatical lengths competitors often go to advance their standings, and the pressure athletes feel to win at all costs.

Author Biography

Mike Rowbottom has written about sport for a number of national newspapers over the past 25 years. He has covered five summer Olympics and four winter Olympics, several Wimbledon tournaments and too many football matches to count, as well as many minor sports such as croquet, real tennis and arm wrestling.