Wire, Wire, Pants on Fire (The 1976 Soviet Fencing Scandal)

Hall of Shame

If Rachel says, en garde, Rachna better say fence. In 1976, a Ukrainian pentathlete with a chip on his shoulder arrived at the Olympics in Quebec ready to win the gold. Of the five pentathlon events, Boris Onischenko's specialty was fencing. With the win-at-all costs pressure from the Soviet Union, Boris fenced his little heart out, scoring so many points that his opponents began to raise red flags. Was Boris that good? Or did he have a few tricks up his sword?