Sports

Fallen heroes: sports stars who fell far

Jan Ullrich: Court cases, alcohol, drugs

August 2018, Frankfurt: Police arrest Ullrich. He's accused of choking an escort at a luxury hotel while heavily intoxicated. Officials consign him to psychiatric treatment. Before that, in Mallorca, Ullrich vandalized the property of actor Till Schweiger while high, prompting police to arrest him. And in 2014, Ullrich injured two people while driving drunk, getting a 21-month suspended sentence.

Fallen heroes: sports stars who fell far

O. J. Simpson: American football star and actor

Orenthal James ("O. J.") Simpson was one of American football's best players in the 1970s. The running back was named MVP in 1973, after becoming the first player ever to rush 2,000 yards in a season. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1985. Simpson also made a career as an actor, appearing in the Roots television series and the Naked Gun films.

Fallen heroes: sports stars who fell far

O. J. Simpson: accused of murder

In 1994, Simpson's ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her boyfriend Ron Goldman were found dead, strangled. Los Angeles prosecutors accused O. J. of murder, but the jury found him to be innocent. In a subsequent civil suit, Simpson is ordered to pay millions to the victims' families in damages. He served a nine-year jail sentence for robbery and was released in 2017.

Fallen heroes: sports stars who fell far

Tonya Harding: ice skating darling

US skater Tonya Harding (left in photo) wins the silver medal in 1991 at the World Championships in Munich. Her rivalry with her compatriot Nancy Kerrigan (right) captivated the sport.

Fallen heroes: sports stars who fell far

Tonya Harding: husband sabotages rivals

In training for the 1994 US championships, an attacker struck Harding's rival Nancy Kerrigan on the knee with a skate. Harding's husband at the time, Jeff Gillooly, hired the assailant. Harding was also convicted of obstructing investigations into the case, receiving a suspended three-year jail sentence and a fine worth roughly €140,000. The 2017 film biography "I, Tonya" claimed an Oscar.

Fallen heroes: sports stars who fell far

Matti Nykänen: ski jumping's highest flyer

Four Olympic golds, mulitple world championship wins, even more World Cup event victories, and a couple of wins at the German Four Hills tournament, to boot. Along with his East German rival Jens Weißflog, he dominated 1980s ski jumping.

Fallen heroes: sports stars who fell far

Matti Nykänen: pop star, stripper, and worse

Nykänen's later life was dominated by troubles with money and alcohol. He tried to be a pop singer, and even a stripper. The lowest point came in 2004, when he and then-wife Mervi Tapola were accused of fatally stabbing a friend in a drunken altercation. Nykänen was sentenced to 26 months for aggravated assault. Further convictions for violent incidents, many against women, have followed.

Fallen heroes: sports stars who fell far

Marion Jones: Olympia-Gold in Sydney 2000

Marion Jones dominated the 2000 Olympics in Sydney on the track and even in the field. The athlete won gold in the 100 meters, 200 meters and the 400-meter relay. You can add a pair of bronze medals to that haul, too — in the 100-meter relay and the long jump.

Fallen heroes: sports stars who fell far

Marion Jones: jailed, stripped of medals

At a New York hearing in 2007, Marion Jones admitted to taking steroids before the Sydney Games and then lying about this to investigators. The court sentenced her to six months in prison. The International Olympic Committee stripped her of her medals from 2000. In 2006, Jones' debts forced her to sell her property.

Fallen heroes: sports stars who fell far

Lance Armstrong: dominating pro cycling

First Lance Armstrong defeated cancer. Then he conquered the Tour de France, winning it seven times in a row from 1999 to 2005. Rumors of doping already accompanied his unprecedented success on the Tour, but he had always rejected them...

Fallen heroes: sports stars who fell far

Lance Armstrong: truth will out

Critics long questioned Armstrong's seemingly superhuman Tour record. By late 2012, the US Anti-Doping Agency alleged that Armstrong and his partly-taxpayer-funded USPS Team "ran the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that the sport has ever seen." Armstrong himself later confessed on an appearance on Oprah Winfrey's show. He was stripped of his cycling titles.

Fallen heroes: sports stars who fell far

Oscar Pistorius: the blade runner

South African Oscar Pistorius had both legs amputated at the knee aged 11 months. Dominant in the Paralympics on his carbon fiber prosthetics, Pistorius was setting times comparable with able-bodied pro athletes. At the 2011 World Championships in Degu he was among the 4x400-meter relay silver medalists. At London's 2012 Olympics, he competed in the main event.

Fallen heroes: sports stars who fell far

Oscar Pistorius: the killer

Pistorius fatally shot his partner, model Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine's Day 2013, through a closed bathroom door in their home in Pretoria. He claimed to have believed that she was an intruder at the time. After a string of court cases, South Africa's top court ultimately upgraded his conviction from manslaughter to murder, sentencing him to 15 years.

Fallen heroes: sports stars who fell far

Denis Rodman: rebound king

Bad boy Dennis Rodman won a total of five NBA titles, first with the Detroit Pistons and then with Pippen and Jordan at the Chicago Bulls. He was twice named defensive player of the year, and led the league in rebounds from 1992 to 1998, despite being comparatively short for a basketball player (6ft 6in, or 1.98 meters). He's a Hall of Fame inductee.

Fallen heroes: sports stars who fell far

Dennis Rodman: a very special envoy to North Korea

After his playing career, Rodman regularly got in trouble with police for driving under the influence, domestic violence and disturbance of the peace. Cash-strapped Rodman's regular visits to North Korea, including meetings with basketball fan Kim Jong Un, made the headlines. Rodman saw his own mission as a diplomatic one. And sure enough, come 2018, he was at the Korean summit in Singapore.

Fallen heroes: sports stars who fell far

Diego Maradona: the champion

Diego Maradona won the 1986 World Cup final with Argentina (3-2 against West Germany) and was named the player of the tournament. His goal against England (the legitimate one) earlier in the competition goes down in the World Cup all-time annals. He also won the 1989 UEFA Cup and two Italian titles at club level with Napoli.

Fallen heroes: sports stars who fell far

Diego Maradona: dazed and confused

Even during his playing days Maradona's cocaine habit was no secret. After his career, Maradona's love of alcohol and drugs expanded along with his waistline. His regular propaganda television and radio appearances in Venezuela help cover the costs. His Russia World Cup antics also grabbed attention, complete with dodgy dancing, middle fingers and needing medical aid.

Fallen heroes: sports stars who fell far

Boris Becker: shooting star

Boris Becker's meteoric rise to fame began on the grass courts of Wimbledon in 1985. The 17-year-old became the youngest-ever men's singles winner, a record that still stands, as well as becoming the first German and the first unseeded winner. Becker won a total of six grand slams as well as Olympic gold in 1992 in the men's doubles with Michael Stich.

Fallen heroes: sports stars who fell far

Boris Becker: bankruptcy bites

In 2017 a London court declared Becker bankrupt. Seemingly in order to avoid the bankruptcy proceedings, Becker claimed diplomatic immunity in June as a sport attache to the EU for the Central African Republic. Foreign Minister Charles Armel Doubane later said his papers were forged, Becker disputes this. He's had more success as a coach, however, spending years in the employ of Novak Djokovic.

Author: Benjamin Kühne