Doping has become the unwanted guest that always shows up where it's least wanted, bringing with it chaos and a load of dirty laundry that should never see the light of day.

In the quest to become the best in the world, athletes too often fall victim to their own ambitions by trying to cheat their way to the top, and the outcome is a mixed bag of consequences that lead to disgrace for the participants, and disbelief from the adoring fans who have raised these gladiators to the loftiest of pedestals.
 
Marion Jones

She was the first woman to ever win five medals in the history of the tournament - a feat she achieved at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Australia. Jones was hailed as "the fastest woman in the world". But her proudest moment was to become her darkest hour.



When she admitted to using steroids after initially denying the allegations, Jones's career came to a screeching halt - and to say her fans were in shock when the truth finally came out would be the understatement of the century.

For her transgressions, she got six months in jail for perjury and kissed her medals goodbye.

Ben Johnson

Ben Johnson was a 100m world record holder at the 1987 World Championship and the Summer Olympics in South Korea the following year. With two Olympic bronzes and a gold to his name, Johnson was untouchable - truly a force to be reckoned with.


The Canadian sprinter ran into a brick wall when he tested positive for a banned substance - stanozolol, an anabolic steroid - and he lost his medals and both records.

Keeping himself busy during his ban, Johnson availed his services as a trainer to Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, at the time still very much in his dictatorial prime, whose soccer-mad son Al-Saadi Gaddafi had aspirations of playing for an Italian club.

Johnson passed on perhaps one useful tip too many: Gaddafi Junior did indeed sign to an Italian football club - Perugia, but they sent him packing after just one game, after he failed a drug test.

The old saying, "you are the company you keep", will do fine as a summary of this scandalous union.

Kim Jong Su

A normal bloke would see no need to take performance-enhancing drugs to shoot a gun, right?

Kim Jong Su of North Korea would disagree with us on this one, the 10m air pistol bronze and 50m silver medalist at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Athens was found to have taken propranolol, which blocks adrenaline.


His reluctance to deal naturally with his body's fight-or-flight instincts led to his medals taking flight instead.

Hans-Gunnar Liljenwall

We all know drinking often involves shooters, but Swedish pentathlete Hans-Gunnar Liljenwall took this a bit too literally when he helped himself to a cold one at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico.

Hans-Gunnar Liljenwall was a bundle of nerves before the pistol-shooting part of the modern pentathlon. So, to calm himself down, the Scandanavian contestant treated himself to the most expensive two beers in Sweden's history, costing him and his whole team their bronze accolades.