TOP 10
Notable drug scandals
Doping & drug infractions that rocked the sports world
July 27, 2006
 Ireland's Michelle Smith was elated to win one of her three gold medals in the 1996 Olympics, but a whiskey-spiked urine sample, among other things, cast a shadow on her success. (Tim Clary/AFP/Getty Images) |
Last to first: Irish swimmer Michelle Smith
Irish eyes were smiling during the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. Michelle Smith was the pride of Ireland after winning three gold and one bronze medal in the pool.
No one else was smiling. Her rise to the top of the swimming world was extremely suspicious.
In two previous Olympic Games, Smith's best result was 17th in the 200-metre backstroke.
In 1993, she was ranked 90th in the world in the 400 individual medley, but after training with husband Erik de Bruin – a former Dutch discus thrower who was under a four-year suspension for failing a drug test – she vaulted into 17th in the world by the next year.
By Atlanta, the 26-year-old Smith had won several European titles and trimmed a whopping 17 seconds off two personal bests.
After her Olympic success, it was discovered that FINA, swimming's international federation, had repeatedly expressed concern that Smith was unavailable for out-of-competition drug tests from 1995 onward.
Finally, in 1998, two drug testers showed up at Smith and de Bruin's home.
Smith gave them a sample, but because she was wearing a bulky sweater, the tester couldn't see what she was doing. The sample was sealed and sent to a Barcelona lab for examination. The results were shocking. The sample contained a level of alcohol that would be fatal if consumed by a human.
FINA concluded that the sample had been manipulated, that whiskey had been added as a masking agent and they suspended Smith for four years.
Those athletes who finished behind Smith in 1996 – including Canadians Marianne Limpert (silver) and Joanne Malar (fourth) in the 200IM – can only wonder what might have been.