10 Biggest Lies Ever Told by Disgraced Athletes

#10: Pete Rose Gambling Denial

When it comes to the world of sports, the conflict of interest that arises from betting on games your own team is competing in is no joke. In fact, doing so can bring your entire career’s work into question. For Pete Rose, who spent years denying any participation in gambling, the revelation that he had been lying was devastating. In fact, Rose had been betting on Cincinnati Reds games, possibly against their success, all the while serving as their manager. In 2004 when he finally admitted that he was lying, he tried to claim that his gambling never affected managerial decisions - but the damage was done. He lost his eligibility for Hall of Fame consideration and it pretty much ruined his reputation.

#9: Tonya Harding Denial of Involvement in Kerrigan Attack

Tonya Harding was best-known as the first-ever American female figure skater to land a triple Axel in competition. Or at least that was her greatest claim to fame before the attack on her rival Nancy Kerrigan. Kerrigan had been assaulted during her preparations for an upcoming competition, leading to an injury to her knee. Tonya’s ex-husband Jeff Gillooly was found to have orchestrated the attack to help Tonya’s career. Eventually, it became clear that Harding knew more than she was letting on - and eventually, for her role in covering up the scandal, she received a life-time ban from figure-skating.

#8: Ryan Braun's PED Scandal

Ryan Braun managed to serve up a bona fide miracle when he became the first MLB player to ever successfully appeal a PED suspension in 2012. However, he decided to go on the offensive after that - brazenly claiming that he… and we quote, “would bet my life that this substance never entered my body.” As it turned out, he was actually very guilty. Further, when he later tested positive for testosterone, there was no escaping justice. The problem here was Braun literally called several people’s character into question while maintaining his own innocence. In the end, he accepted a 65-game ban and came out of it all looking like the villain.

#7: Manti Te’o Hoax Girlfriend

College-football star Manti Te’o was the victim of a catfishing hoax where a man named Ronaiah Tuiasosopo engaged in a multi-year online relationship with him. Te’o thought he was genuinely talking to a woman named Lennay Kekua, but lied to his friends and family about the fact that they had never met. Upon being notified of her supposed death from leukemia, he grieved and mentioned her to the press. But he still never admitted that he hadn’t met her personally. Sure, it’s the smaller lie of the two - but people became sceptical and began to suspect that Te’o was complicit and the whole thing was a scam to draw sympathy and attention. Call him naive if you wish, but this whole thing was truly unfortunate.

#6: Barry Bonds Steroid Denial

We could have very easily gone for Mark McGwire here, but for our money, watching Barry Bonds lie through his teeth was truly the ultimate betrayal of fan trust. After being accused of PED use, Bonds evaded telling the truth like a pro - eventually whittling down his excuses to plain ignorance. He claimed that he had no idea what anyone was giving him… and though he never did get convicted of perjury, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone defending him these days. As the all-time leader in MLB home-runs, it’s a terrible shame that Bonds’ legacy has been called into dispute like this.

#5: Marion Jones BALCO Lies

Marion Jones certainly wouldn’t be the first athlete to lie under oath, but her fall from grace was definitely among the most shocking. After stunning the world with five medals at the 2000 Olympics, Jones was on top of her game. But in 2007, she admitted that she had lied to federal agents about her involvement with the infamous BALCO doping scandal. On top of that, it emerged that she had also been using PEDs during her career - leading to a 6-month prison sentence for perjury. Jones was stripped of her medals and her reputation, to this day, remains in tatters.

#4: Alex Rodriguez Steroid Denial

Most steroid users aren’t going to flat-out admit that they’re lying without some serious pressure being applied first. But for the MLB superstar Alex Rodriguez, he played the victim for just about as long as he could. Eventually, he was forced into a partial confession - admitting that he had used some PEDs earlier in his career… but once he budged on that, people immediately lost all trust. He tried to apologise for his actions, but it was pretty obvious that he was only sorry because he got caught. He ended up getting suspended for the entire 2014 season and his reputation took a hit that it would never bounce back from.

#3: Ryan Lochte Fabricated Robbery [aka Lochtegate)]

This one falls firmly into the category of stories you need to hear to fully believe. Swimmer Ryan Lochte was in Brazil representing the United States at the Rio Olympics when the unthinkable happened. Lochte and three of his teammates were robbed at gunpoint by thugs disguised as policemen. However, this, as it turned out, was not what happened at all. The so-called robbers were actually security guards at a gas station that caught Lochte and co. urinating publicly and vandalising a framed poster. This revelation went down about as poorly as you might think, with Lochte and the three others being made to pay a fine and apologize publicly.

#2: Tiger Woods "Perfect Family" Deception

Tiger Woods was truly one of the defining athletes of his generation - a competitor who dominated the competition to a degree that had rarely been seen before. For years, he cultivated a clean image as a mild-mannered family man. But in 2009, his carefully-crafted facade fell apart in the most dramatic way imaginable. Reports of multiple extra-marital affairs shattered our perception of Tiger - destroying his reputation in one fell swoop. To make matters worse, persistent injuries also helped in derailing his golfing success. It was a saga that will always define him to some degree - even though his unbelievable 2019 Masters comeback certainly deserves to be mentioned.

#1: Lance Armstrong Doping Denials

Lance Armstrong is undoubtedly the most famous cyclist to ever live - and the work he has done for charity cannot and should not be understated. But to see the face of cycling tied to the most famous steroid scandal of all time was as disappointing as can be. Not to mention the fact that Armstrong routinely denied all PED use and attacked the character of anyone who made such accusations. When the chickens finally came home to roost in 2013, the fall-out was devastating. Not only was Armstrong revealed to be a competitive cheat, but also a barefaced liar who had deceived millions of people while earning a small fortune at the same time. There was no coming back from this one.

But which crazy athlete’s lie sticks out in your memory the most? Be sure to let us know in the comments below.