Sad tale which made for fascinating film documentary. Paddled his dodgy trimaran around parts South American while using the radio to fake amazing deeds in the 1968 round-the-world race. Had the decency to detail all in a logbook before stepping overboard, for good.
3) Lance Armstrong (American cyclist)
Yes, yes. Stop picking on the obvious choice. But he is one nasty hombre. The Whiz on Wheels didn't just deny, deny, deny. He hunted down the people who told the truth about him, happy to wreck their lives if necessary. He even looked super columnist Rick Reilly in the eye and lied to him. And Reilly believed him. Worse still, Armstrong did a horrible confession that wasn't a proper confession on Oprah. And he's still whinging about how life ain't treating him right. If Armstrong isn't sport's worst fraudster, he's hard to beat as the most unlikeable one.
4) Hansie Cronje (South African cricketer)
Still can't believe this one. A lot of us revered this bloke, as the epitome of a captain who gave it all for his country. Turns out he was just another cricketer on the take, who used his status for dastardly advantage. The words to describe Cronje can't be printed here.
5) Carl Lewis (American athlete)
Acted so perfect, when he was actually on the juice. Then he wriggled away, saying it was different back in the 80s, and drugs didn't help anyway. The Lewis arrogance sticks in the throat.
6) Marion Jones (American athlete)
The Sydney Olympics were brilliant...until their golden girl Jones was unmasked as a drug cheat, turning the winning 2000 festival into a bit of a joke. Thanks Marion.
7) Dave Bresnahan (baseballer)
In 1987, the AA-league baseball pitcher threw a potato peeled and shaped like a baseball into the outfield to fool a runner into slowly jogging home. Funny guy, and most did actually laugh.
8) Rosie Ruiz (commuter/athlete)
Won the 1980 Boston Marathon in record time and looking remarkably fresh, probably because she skipped most of the race and took the subway instead.
9) Barry Bremen (he should be everyone's favourite sports con man)
Took more short cuts than Rosie Ruiz. Described as a novelty-goods salesman, he entered pro sports by the direct route without bothering to train and all that other unnecessary stuff. Got his start by donning a team uniform and taking part in pre-game warmups at the 1979 basketball All-Star game in Detroit. His failure to make the actual game before being spotted didn't deter Bremen. He made a career of this sort of thing, his finest hour being a stint on the sidelines of an NFL game dressed as a Dallas Cowgirls cheerleader complete with shaved legs poking out from a homemade outfit.
10) Ali Dia (fake footballer/Bambi)
In 1996, legendary Liverpool hardman Graeme Souness had become the Southampton manager, and received a call from Liberia's famous player George Weah. No he didn't. It was someone pretending to be Weah recommending an outstanding Senegal prospect and Weah cousin named Ali Dia. Souness played the sucker, and Dia appeared in a premier league match against Leeds, lasting 53 minutes as a replacement for the injured Saints superstar Matt le Tissier before Souness took the bumbler off. But wait, there's more. Le Tissier, who described Dia as playing like "Bambi on Ice", revealed the fake footballer turned up the next day for treatment on an injury. He was never seen at Southampton again.
