In the 2000 Paralympic Games, Spain decided to hit the basketball court with a team of non-disabled players. A bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see if it paid off for them.
Alex Constantine could you imagine being one of those athletes and then being associated with this scam AND having your metal taken away? I feel so bad for them :(
Samuel Mason How could theu forget it *just* ten minutes later? They won a GOLD metal at the OLYMPICS. Getting it is a HUGE feat in athletics, and you findimg out that you and another guy got it becauae your TEAMMATES JUST CHEATED, is NOT something to forget about.
Employer: "How good are you at journalism?" Carlos: "One time I pretended to be mentally disabled to infiltrate an undercover Paralympic basketball team that was stacked with non disabled people to win the gold for government grant money. Also, my fake IQ score was 69." Employer: "You're hired."
I think it's silly though that people would think "how did no one notice?" and whatnot. Disabilities aren't always visible or "obvious". Many disabled people suffer mostly internally and spend much of their energy on trying to "look normal". I have several physical and mental disabilities, but no one ever would have guessed it growing up and even now - most people doubt me. Lol.
@@partymix1997 They did do a test though. I thought that was what the video said. Could be wrong, though ofc. But I don't think that's related to what I'm saying. The video suggested that the viewer was thinking "How did no one notice?"... but that implies that disabilities are always obvious or visible lol.
@@ExandierRiley You’re correct; I look normal to anyone who might see me, but I’m hemiplegic with a left arm and leg attached that makes me look normal; but neither function at all.
I remember this scandal, it rocked the whole disablility world to the core. Also, for some of the real disabled players this was the last Paralympics they would qualify for due to their age or their disabilty getting worse.
Ao Tora it’s also very possible they were fully aware and chose to participate to benefit their own chances. We don’t know their specific circumstances, but it is sad they were involved
@@cassiea13245678 It's not sad if they chose it but if they were really disabled enough and didn't know what was going on then I feel really, really sorry for them :( Imagine working so hard for something, finally getting it and then it being taken away due to something you don't even fully understand and people being mad at you for something you don't fully comprehend either :(
Xao nevertheless, no skill was showcased. as they couldn’t play people as “skilled” as themselves. that’s nothing to argue, proven as fact by their medals being taken away.
@@danielm6911 🤣plsss … u reminded me of that I’ve spent the last five minutes laughing, then rewatching it and laughing again. I love how he underestimated the athletes and lost still but yh … that was funny. And yes, it’s literally just like that .. except they won 😕
The saddest thing about all this to me is that they didn't just steal medals from disabled athletes that one time in Sydney, they deprived a ton of disabled athletes from an Olympic experience until 2009. That's two Olympic tours. The few bad apples ruining it for the many.
@@MLdoktor at least he lost, he didn't even place, and South Park is a TV show it's made up for entertainment this actually happened multiple people were in the wrong.
They weren’t even bad apples, they were pears pretending to be good apples, then got noticed for not being good then called out for not even being apples -yes I did get a bit carried away with this ik
This is a well known story here in Spain. In fact, a few years ago a Spanish movie named "Campeones" (which means champions in spanish) about a basketball team with actual intellectual disability that hints this scandal was the most popular movie that year.
I Remember being recommended this video 4 years ago and I thought "why would you spoil the surprise on the title? why should I watch this?" today I decided to watch. You're a good guy
@@gbear1005 why work hard, it's obvious the lemmings like the crap journalism put out in the US, and they get paid the same no matter if it's good or bad, kinda sad that that's true.
Matthew Mazzetti It sucks even more because I read they were banned from playing and had their stuff revoked too when they honestly didn’t have anything to do with it
@@maggie1000 It sucks when the innocent are labelled as the guilty party as well, they probably worked their hardest, had no idea about what was really going on and felt like they achieved so much with their disability helping them; only to get smacked in the face with the scandal
I mean… nine years is an eternity in all sports, disabled or not. Very few high-performance athletes really have a shelf life of nine years. That only compounds when you factor in amputation or spinal cord injury in particular.
Over the course of my time on RU-vid, I have been recommended this video countless times, usually on videos discussing history relating to products, it has been haunting me for over 3 years. I never clicked it, ever. But after finishing my second ever viewing of the WW2 era Monopoly, this video showed up again. I figured, I might as well give it a watch this time. I've clicked on it, let's see if it was worth it. *Post-viewing update:* This was totally worth it. I wish I had clicked on this earlier.
I once saw a guy trying to squeeze a second CD into the case of one he was going to buy - in a charity shop! I alerted staff to this loudly - so he'd hear - and when outside, he threatened me with violence ! How low can you go ? They were £1 per CD.
Man. I think you know nothing in the world. This is nothing compared to the real evil people on earth. And there are millions of really deep evil people
FUN FACT = After this video went viral, ONCE (Spain's #1 organization for the disabled) essentially paid for a movie to be made about mentally-handicapped basketball and the movie made a profit. That cover-up is now also getting a freaking Hollywood remake with Woody Harrelson as the coach.
@_cheeto - Yes, it is a modern age cover-up. Whenever you search for mentally-handicapped basketball, you see the sports comedies (there's 3 of them: the Spanish original, the Hollywood remake and now a Spanish sequel) instead of the tremendous scandal.
Such a bizarre incident RU-vid recommended to me but man, there are crazy things happening everywhere even in places you think will never have such things. Thanks for making such an informative video 👏🏻👍🏻 also I dig the moral, instead of going with the cliches you kept to the honest hard truth till the end of the video. I salute you and respect you deeply
this has been in my recommendations for a while now so i finally watched it and i have no words. i feel horrible for all the disabled people who came there with a dream just to have it crushed by some greedy guys
My heart goes out to the 2 members on the team that were actually disabled and had no clue what was happening. They truly tried their best and deserved their medals
@@wilfriedsteinbach8700 not necessarily we don't know what the outcome would have been. And if they truly didn't know that they were helping people cheat then they don't deserve to be stripped of the reward did they thought they rightfully one regardless of others actions.
@Mocco Mongananzo They may have known they were disabled but didn't know their intentions. Mentally Disabled people are still people, but one of their many traits of them that they are more impressionable. They're not stupid or idiots, but they just couldn't grasp it was a harmful lie.
River Rose What about everyone else who participated? So those two should still should get the reward even though the team itself stripped everyone else of the possible reward?
Austin, your topics kicked my spirit. That was very good, as a reminder that we need to stay focus on doing the right thing no matter how hard it can be
It's hard to top this video. I still think it's your finest work. The editing, narration, music choices, and interesting topic all make it a spectacular watch.
this is a good observation and I appreciate the pun, but do keep in mind the ramifications of describing people you don't like/cruel actions as disabilities/mental illness and what that language does for both how disabilities are viewed and how disabled people like me feel seen. not trying to call you ableist or make you feel guilty or anything like that, just something to keep in mind for the future 💕
a lot of people from countries will be embarrassed when looking at a past episode in any part of their history. Americans in the future will look back from how in 2020 people have been going crazy
My grandfather had a friend whom we would later find out to use a wheelchair on purpose whenever she went to events, like soccer games or concerts so she could get a discount and have a better spot! She was absolutely miserable and nobody liked her. How can anyone can be so unfair to others is beyond me.
Fun fact: a movie about a basketball team of mentally disabled players was released in Spain some years ago, and one of the characters was actually one of the two players from this team that really were mentally disabled
Can you imagine how it must have felt to be the two of the twelve? You just won the game of your lives, but none of your teammates are excited about it, no one wants to celebrate it, and after getting back home hearing all these nasty rumors about you and your teammates, you're told your victory was a lie and that you need to return the medal and be ashamed.
Thank you. I have watched this before. Thank you for bringing it to my attention again. Sorry it took me a minute. It was crazy yesterday. But how fitting right? History repeats itself, that is why it’s important to study it - especially if you are a business major.
He has legs, they're just extremely atrophied. Also it's possible he has some sort of spinal injury and therefore would use the medication in question.
@@jarrettembry643 Wow, what a clever joke. Tell me, how does it feel to be literally the funniest human being to ever live? My god, I'm still in awe at the shocking display of hilarity I've just witnessed. Truly a historic occasion.
Game Master I’m sorry, I can’t contain my excitement. I just found the funniest being on planet earth and I can’t hold it in! Sure it perpetuates transphobia by trivializing their experiences, but it’s not like they’re already one of the most oppressed groups in the modern world with a shockingly high suicide rate. It’s okay though because the joke was so hilarious and original that it doesn’t matter what the real life situation is for these people. In all seriousness, I think any subject can be joked about, but I think the more offensive or edgy the subject matter or tone is, the better your joke has to be to not look like a piece of shit. Their “joke,” which was basically parroting, wasn’t particularly offensive, but it’s not funny, nor was it ever really funny however many years ago when people made it for the first time.
There’s so many people that were affected by this scandal, it’s true greediness from those that won. I couldn’t imagine going to bed knowing that I robbed many legitimate Paralympian’s opportunities to compete for 2 Paralympic events, and let down the 2 actually disabled people on the team. The people that did this must be absolutely heartless, and greedy to their core. Shocking
I've been saving this video for a looong time, and because the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games are finally being played I decided to watch it, and I can say I'm not disappointed, I'm extremely shocked. I myself am from Spain and I'm telling you, NO ONE ever mentions this. I literally just figured out. Truly despicable... Also, that undercover reporter thing was next level
@The Honkening 10 year olds: i'm so young my life is depressing 20 year olds: i'm so young and i get to smoke my life is amazing 30 year olds: i'm so old my life is depressing 60 year olds: i'm so old and everybody does everything for me my life is amazing
I was your age then and it seems like it wasnt thaat long ago since it was the new century. I'm waking up to the different facets of aging. I live part way between where my Dad worked in the 80s/90s and the school I went to in '91. I used to make note and repeat all of the changes to buildings, thing that happened. Life goes fast. Kinda too fast to bother with retro novelties the whole time. I cringe at the stuff I did in the past. Drank at lot in 2000. I only drink like one beer if that now. P.S. RU-vid, anf having a computer with the internet in my pocket...fucking amazing.
It seems like if the journalist actually cared about the paralympians he would have exposed this BEFORE the games, rather than after. Looks like he was just after fame to me...some hero.
When you revealed that one of the athletes was an undercover journalist, I was legit awe-struck. This is some block buster level plot right here. Like, you just can't make this shit up.
Well, it's more likely that he joined the team and decided to become a journalist. You know, capitalizing on an opportunity - blowing the whistle and getting paid for it too.
@@SyndicateOperative You don't just "become" a journalist. If he wasn't a journalist before, then he would have more likely asked for an interview than just become a journalist.
@Anthony 223 I mean milio ns of vaccinated people including myself haven't got autism. Also just having autism doesn't mean that they are automatically mentally retarded.
Most people who are in a wheel chair can stand, walk and run. No everyone is paralyzed, and even if it's the case, there is a great chance that you can do these things to a certain level. Disabilities are diversified and irregular, it change with time and life, please don't put us in the same little box that you forget when you're done with it.
How low can one be to carry out such a disgraceful act, feel so bad for the 2 athletes that were disabled and had no idea that the others weren’t, they must feel terrible knowing they worked so hard to be fooled by their own team mates 😔
I have a significant spinal issue and let me tell you, Autonomic Dysreflexia is no joke. I totally believe those stories about how mothers can lift a car off of their child when they’re in danger. When Dysreflexia occurs my whole body spasms, tightens up and engages every muscle in my legs. It’s hardcore. If I could harness the powers of my intensely flexing legs, I could be stronger than I had ever been before my accident. The strength in that moment is remarkable
I also really liked how he presented the moral of the story. It's true, sometimes you will get away with lying, but you will never feel good about it. He manages to present the events and even his conclusion without judging any of the involved. I am glad that I discovered his channel!
Non bias isn't about weighing both sides equally. It's about choosing the side with the best 'argument'. In this instance it's 100% not biased to judge them for their actions Though if he wants to choose to present in like this that is fine. But I wouldn't discredit him if he passed judgement
Tactical Idiots First off, nice handle. Second, journalist’s job aren’t to pass sway. It’s to present facts. As they are. Facts. Not emotions. Not fan fare. Let the listeners/ readers base opinions. Get a second opinion. And then a third. Like you would with a bid. I’m sure he had an opinion of what happened. However, at the moment, that wasn’t his job. True journalism.
One of the worst parts is that all the games for those with intellectual disabilities didn't even come back until 2009. Like, the athletes that were so screwed over in 2000 were disqualified for the next 9 years. That would be heartbreaking. That's long enough for potential Paralympic gold medalists to age past some of their best years athletically. "You can't come back because you were too easy to be taken advantage of last time" .. like they genuinely just punished the victims.
I share the sentiment that this is the worst part, but I don’t it had anything to do with them being easy to take advantage of, rather of how poorly defined/easily fooled mental disability testing is. I have a background in competitive rubiks cube solving, and it is not uncommon that new categories propositions are thrown out the window for ease of cheating/how hard it is to define good regulations for the category. I think the ban was born from this same place. Not saying it was a good idea tho, but I’m very much ignorant to how these discussion took place and we’re probably missing a lot of important info that goes into a decision like that.
@@sub-zero5433 except it's not and the people who are able to do it have some of the fastest brains on the planet. I forgot what the number is but i think they have to have like 40 thousand possible combinations memorized. And the pattern recognition skills to decifer them all and solve the entire randomized cube in like less then a minute
@@josequilez5449 it only takes them a few seconds to solve a regular 3x3 its actually insane, theres also categories like blindfolded 7x7 and I saw ppl get rlly close to actually solving the entire cube
@@sub-zero5433 oh believe me its real. the community is huge and great. ive been trying to lower my time to at least 15 seconds for 4 years now just to qualify for tournaments lmaoo edit: i do need to mention that you don't need to be sub 15 to compete. joining would be pointless tho since everyone's already so fast 💀
I once worked at a summer camp where we had a paralymic athlete turn up as a guest for the day. Only thing wrong with his was that his balance was supposedly off due to an injury to the head. I remember him saying I will not do keepie uppies infant of the kids because then I could lose my place in the squad. I was thinking you are not a paralymic athlete!! Honestly there was nothing wrong with that guy. Sad that these people will take the place in the squad as opposed to ppl with real disabilities!
The reporter was NOT the good guy. He could have exposed everything *before* the team competed, but instead waited until after they had crushed all thise dreams so he'd have a bigger headline to sell. Reporters often stand by and let suffering happen so they can cover it, but this guy helped cause it
@@iurigrang he probably wanted to make sure he got all the information before releasing it. Unfortunately, especially now, gaps in info stemming from jumping to conclusions too quickly is a problem with media. He likely wanted to make sure he was accurately reporting and that’s why he waited.
@@metrofilmer8894 No, an athlete that participates in an event like the olympics is registered weeks before the tournament. If Spain had denied the allegations they would have needed to sent real disabled players or no team at all, resulting in no scandal. This guy wanted it to happen
Actually, he WAS the good guy. If he had turned them in BEFORE having irrefutable evidence (i.e. actually doing what they exactly intended), it would've been too easy for them to lie and say it was just a test to see if it was possible but never had any intentions of falling thru with it. Put ur thinking caps on guys.
@@_AmikaC_ so they wouldn’t have played and wouldn’t have betrayed all the other athletes..I don’t see where this is a bad thing. But not preventing this from happening just to get a good story is pretty selfish. He’ s not a good guy, he didn’t care about the other athletes. He could have said it after the first game
surely that's not the lowest of the low. Imagine torturing those same disabled people in a simulated hell with exponentially expanding suffering for all eternity, and doing the same thing to the rest of humanity, and to all other sentient life in the universe, and creating new sentience as fast as possible to share in the endless and ever-expanding torture. Surely that's closer to the lowest of the low.
I’m curious how the two disabled players felt being on the team. Were they aware of the whole thing? Since they came from outside until the last minute I doubt they knew. But god how would it feel for them to find out their teammates were lying
They're sub-75 IQ. I doubt they knew too. If you took 5 minutes to repeatedly explain it to them they might understand. But then they'd forget again. Then they'd tell you how much they love their teammates and try to hug something way too hard...
I’ve been working for DD people for 42 years, some of whom competed in Special Olympics events. This story was unknown to me, and is both very sad snd extremely disturbing…as it pertains to “normal” people cheating to succeed….and as pertains the lack of access human beings with DD or other disabilities thusly possess due to said cheating by “normal” athletes… Appalling!!
Its sad that after 30 mins of searching, I still cant find the names of the two disabled athletes, who did get to keep their medals by the way. But I hope the narrative switches to how horrible it would have been for them during this ordeal and the 13 years that followed
I'm pretty sure they had to return their medals, it doesn't say anything about them being able to keep the medals or any sort of compensation. Yes, it's horrible but technically they don't deserve the medals because of the 10 other players giving them an unfair advantage. You can't really blame them for not exposing the team either, they trained separately to the non-disabled players and they probably presumed the other players were disabled too, they had no reason to speculate otherwise.
A nice thing, one of the only real disabled players (Ramón Torres) could redempt himself (think about it, he didn't know anything about the scandal during the competition, imagine how broken-hearted and disappointed he was after everything became public) by participating in a movie about disable basketball ("Campeones") and letting the people know his story.
This was not about getting in the paralympics, let alone win it: this was about getting eternally recognised. These guys have hit the history books of cheating. And you dude, the guy behind this video, are a great help :) It's like teams of cops and whatever to catch a drug lord or smth: there's almost never ink (people writing about you), unless you stink.
Lmao you’d be surprised how incredibly willing ppl are to take advantage of disabled ppl. Like it’s generally not to this extent but I’ve had ppl kick out my cane so they could get the last pack of bagels
@@dog5893 like an hour out of NYC. It’s a bedroom community of the city. So like they have the anger of New York ppl but the entitlement of rich Connecticut white fucks with two summer homes and a Porsche minivan :) help :)
