• The worst sporting excuses of all time

Ben Johnson

The original drugs cheat, Ben Johnson failed not one, but two, drugs test in his aborted career. But after the 1988 Olympic champion was stripped of his gold medal he said a herbal drink he took before the race was spiked by someone close to arch-rival Carl Lewis.

Photo by Getty Images Oct 3, 2012

The worst sporting excuses of all time

We've all used some dodgy excuses in our time for not performing - but these sports stars really needed to think before they opened their mouth...

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Latest

Popular

Rugby

Results

2013 Super Rugby Tournament

Cheetahs 27 - 13 Reds
Bulls 35 - 18 Highlanders
Waratahs 28 - 22 Brumbies
Crusaders 23 - 3 Blues
Force 13 - 23 Sharks
Rebels 30 - 21 Stormers

Schedule

2013 Super Rugby Tournament

Chiefs vs Crusaders

7:35pm NZST Fri, 24th May

Rebels vs Waratahs

9:40pm NZST Fri, 24th May

Blues vs Brumbies

7:35pm NZST Sat, 25th May

Force vs Highlanders

9:40pm NZST Sat, 25th May

Kings vs Cheetahs

1:00am NZST Sun, 26th May

Stormers vs Reds

3:05am NZST Sun, 26th May

League

Results

2013 English Super League

Rovers 44 - 18 Wildcats

2013 NRL Premiership Season

Knights 44 - 8 Bulldogs
Sharks 30 - 20 Raiders

2013 NRL Holden Cup

Knights 50 - 26 Bulldogs

Schedule

2013 NRL Holden Cup

Storm vs Sea Eagles

6:45pm NZST Mon, 20th May

Tigers vs Cowboys

7:20pm NZST Fri, 24th May

2013 NRL Premiership Season

Storm vs Sea Eagles

9:00pm NZST Mon, 20th May

2013 English Super League

Rhinos vs Saints

6:45am NZST Tue, 21st May

Tennis

Results

2013 Internazionali BNL d'Italia

Roger Federer lost to Rafael Nadal

1-6 3-6

Roger Federer def. Benoit Paire

7(7)-6 6-4

Rafael Nadal def. Tomas Berdych

6-2 6-4

Marcel Granollers lost to Benoit Paire

1-6 0-6

Roger Federer def. Jerzy Janowicz

6-4 7(7)-6

2013 Open de Nice Côte d’Azur

Denis Istomin lost to Ricardas Berankis

2-6 2-6

Edouard Roger-Vasselin vs Alejandro Falla

7-5

2013 Power Horse Cup

Ivan Dodig def. Blaz Kavcic

7-5 6-4

Lukas Rosol lost to Daniel Brands

4-6 3-6

Jan Hajek def. Evgeny Donskoy

6-2 6-2

2013 Internazionali BNL d'Italia

Serena Williams def. Victoria Azarenka

6-1 6-3

Victoria Azarenka def. Sara Errani

6-0 7-5

Serena Williams def. Simona Halep

6-3 6-0

Jelena Jankovic lost to Simona Halep

6-4 0-6 5-7

Serena Williams def. Carla Suarez Navarro

6-2 6-0

Maria Sharapova lost to Sara Errani

-

Schedule

2013 Davis Cup 1st Rnd - KAZ v AUT

E. Korolev vs. A. Haider-Maure

2:00am NZDT Sun, 3rd February

2013 Davis Cup World Group I 1st Rnd - TPE v AUS

T. Chen vs. L. Hewitt

2:00am NZDT Sun, 3rd February

2013 Fed Cup 1st Rnd - CZE v AUS

L. Safarova vs. S. Stosur

2:00am NZDT Sat, 9th February

L. Safarova vs. J. Gajdosova

2:00am NZDT Sun, 10th February

2013 Fed Cup 1st Rnd - ITA v USA

R. Vinci vs. V. Lepchenko

2:00am NZDT Sat, 9th February

2013 Open 13

T. Berdych(1) vs. J. Janowicz(7)

2:00am NZDT Fri, 22nd February

G. Simon(6) vs. J. del Potro(2)

2:00am NZDT Fri, 22nd February

2013 Power Horse Cup

T. Kamke vs. B. Becker

2:00am NZST Mon, 20th May

J. Nieminen(6) vs. L. Lacko

2:00am NZST Mon, 20th May

2013 Open de Nice Côte d’Azur

L. Hewitt vs. P. Andujar

2:00am NZST Mon, 20th May

A. Seppi(5) vs. Y. Lu

2:00am NZST Mon, 20th May

M. Matosevic vs. R. Haase

2:00am NZST Mon, 20th May

V. Hanescu vs. A. Ramos

2:00am NZST Mon, 20th May

Cricket

Results

2013 Indian Premier League

Indian Premier League Match 71 - PWS v DEL: Pune Warriors won by 38 runs

Indian Premier League Match 72 - SUN v KKR: Sunrisers Hyderabad won by 5 wickets

2013 Scotland v Pakistan [ODI]

Scotland v Pakistan 2nd ODI: Match abandoned without a ball bowled

Schedule

2013 Indian Premier League

Indian Premier League Qualifier 1 (1st v 2nd) - TBD v TBD

21 May 12:00am

Indian Premier League Eliminator (3rd v 4th) - TBD v TBD

22 May 12:00am

2013 Ireland v Pakistan [ODI]

Ireland v Pakistan 1st ODI

23 May 7:45pm

Football

Live

2012/13 Italian Serie A

H1 (00:40)
Live
Cagliari 0
Lazio 0
Stadio Sant'Elia Live Scores
H1 (00:40)
Live
Inter 1
Udinese 3
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza (San Siro) Live Scores
H1 (00:40)
Live
Palermo 0
Parma 2
Stadio Renzo Barbera Live Scores
H1 (00:40)
Live
Pescara 0
Fiorentina 3
Stadio Adriatico Live Scores
H1 (00:40)
Live
Roma 0
Napoli 0
Stadio Olimpico Live Scores
H1 (00:40)
Live
Siena 1
Milan 0
Montepaschi Arena Live Scores
H1 (00:40)
Live
Torino 0
Catania 1
Stadio Olimpico di Torino Live Scores

Results

2012/13 Spanish La Liga

Zaragoza 1 - 2 Athl. Bilbao (FT)

2012/13 English Premier League

Newcastle 0 - 1 Arsenal (FT)

Swansea 0 - 3 Fulham (FT)

2012/13 French Ligue 1

Nice 1 - 1 Lyon (FT)

2012/13 Italian Serie A

Bologna 0 - 0 Genoa (FT)

Atalanta 2 - 2 Chievo (FT)

Schedule

2012/13 Spanish La Liga

Barcelona v Valladolid

20 May 5:00am

Mallorca v Real Betis

21 May 6:00am

2013 AFC Champions League

FC Seoul v Beijing Guoan

21 May 8:30pm

2013 International Friendlies

Oman v Iran

22 May 12:00am