Scandal! Shock! Deceit! And that's just what the International Olympic Committee (IOC) deals with before lunch! Corruption and conspiracy can sometimes outweigh the positives of the Olympic games. From doping scandals, to cheating judges, to fixing matches, the quintessential sport's competition is often tainted by a few bad apples.

Many of the crazy conspiracies out there are a little too far-fetched to be plausible. For example, some theorists believe that the 2012 London Games were used as an attempt for the Illuminati to cover-up an alien invasion. Really? What have those people been smoking?

On the other hand, there are some conspiracy theories from the Olympics that may fall partially, or fully in the truth. Let's put aside are tin-foil hats for now, and take a look at the evidence with 15 Olympic conspiracy theories that may actually be true! We should be clear that in no way are we stating these theories to be 100% factual. These are just theories that carry a little more water than others and provide some evidence that they may in fact be more than just theories. The truth tends to come out, so we'll probably have to wait a while longer before we can determine whether these theories were true or false. For now, enjoy!

15 Brazilian Vote-Buying

In order for a city to be appointed the prestigious yet expensive honor of hosting the Olympic games, they must submit bids to the IOC.  But, in the case of the awarding of the 2016 Summer Olympic in Rio, recent news has emerged that Brazil bought the committee's vote, instead of earning it.

Per independent Brazilian prosecutors, the Brazilian Olympic Committee conspired with wealthy businessmen to purchase the votes from the IOC prior to the award of the 2016 Summer Games. Investigators have found that Arthur Soares, former top official in Brazil who has since been arrested on separate embezzlement charges, had used one of his company's offshore accounts to twice wire $2-million to IOC members prior to the vote.  Of course the transaction is suspicious, but prosecutors still don't have enough evidence to convict anyone. For now, it's simply a conspiracy, but could turn out to be a full-blown scandal sooner than you think.

14 The Virtue/Moir Off-The-Ice Relationship

Canadian Ice dancing duo, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, are absolutely electric on the ice.  They demolished the competition in PyeongChang, grabbing the gold and winning the hearts of viewers with their tantalizing routines. So tantalizing in fact that rumors swirled following their win in South Korea that their chemistry may have spilled over off-the-ice.

The two secretly hold hands during practice runs, have known each other for years, have erotic fan fiction written about them, and have even been theorized to have a secret love-child together! Okay, that last one may sound a little ridiculous, but the couple has never outright denied their rumored romantic relationship. Still, from the sensual routines we've seen over the years, you can't help but think that this theory may be true!

13 Runner Threw A 2012 Race To Avoid Further Backlash

In 2009, South African runner, Caster Semenya, made waves at the World Champions.  She dominated the 800-meter race, taking home the gold, but leaving other women questioning is she was indeed a woman.

After being scrutinized in the press, it turned out that Semenya was intersex. She was found to have internal testes instead of ovaries, resulting in higher levels of testosterone in her system. Although technically a woman, Semenya had physical capabilities within the 'male range.' This leads to an entire topic on woman's rights, biology, and racism, but we'll save that for another day.

Eventually, she was allowed to compete in London in 2012, yet only grabbed the silver medal despite being the favorite in the 800-meter race. Many conspiracy theorists believe Semenya threw the race, not wanting to face criticism from the media yet again. Four years later though, she took home the gold in Rio, but competitors still argued that it was "two separate races." It looks like this conspiracy isn't going away anytime soon.

12 Romanian Gymnast Gets Robbed

Back at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, the Romanian gymnasts dominated the gymnastics arena. The Eastern Euporean nation brought home gold in the team event, and their star performer, Andreea Raducan, took home the individual all-around title.

Yet, shortly after the competition concluded, the IOC announced that Raducan had failed a drug test. The gymnast tested positive for the banned substance pseudoephedrine. Her teammate, Simona Amanar, who came in second, also tested positive. Although unlike the smaller Raducan, Amanar was just below the allowable limit due to her taller and heavier frame.

There is no overall conspiracy except the fact that it is ridiculous that the IOC stripped Raducan of her medal for a substance that is found in cold medicines, like Sudafed. Clearly, they don't have their priorities straight!

11 The Rio Olympic Pools

The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio were tainted by controversy before the games even began. There was the impending threat of Zika, the corruption within the Brazilian government, and the traces of human fecal matter that were found in the outdoor water arenas.  But, it was both the indoor diving center and Aquatic Stadium, that are the subject to our next Olympic conspiracy.

First, the diving center turned bright green. Some theorists cried foul play, but that wasn't the case. An employee (who we suppose was soon fired) added too much hydrogen peroxide to the water, neutralizing the acidic chlorine.

But it was the Aquatic arena that caused the most controversy. Fans realized that all of the race winners were coming from lanes 5-8, as some theorized there was a small current in the pool aiding the swimmers. While it is unproven if this is true, studies have been shown that an Olympic-size pool can, and does, produce a small current. Turns out this tin-foiled theory has scientific evidence in its favor!

10 Russian Mafia Fixes Figure Skating

Who could forget the epic figure skating scandal of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City? The Canadians skated a near-perfect routine in the pairs program, and the veteran announcers even deemed them champions. Yet, the judges, or more specifically, French judge Marie Reine Le Gougne, didn't agree, which put the Canadians behind the Russians.

Later on, Le Gougne claimed she was pressured to vote for the Russians. In exchange, the Russian judges would vote for the French in the ice dancing competition. Behind the entire controversy was Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov, suspected Russian Mafia boss.

Tokhtakhounov apparently colluded with the French so that he could extend his visa.  Later, he was arrested in Italy on charges of wire fraud and bribery. The IOC took matters into their own hands after the truth was revealed, giving the Canadians a gold, yet let the Russians keep theirs as well.

9 Badminton Tanking

Somehow, badminton is an Olympic sport. That's it; there's no joke. It's just shocking.  Anyway, it was an incident from the ladies badminton event in the 2012 London Games that caused a stir around the world.

Eight athletes from Indonesia, China, and South Korea were disqualified from the competition for tanking. What happens is that the squads start off in a preliminary round-robin format to determine seeding, followed by the actual knock-out tournament. The players found a loophole in the rules, and just tanked their prelim matches to face worse competition in the finals.

Personally, that strategy sounds genius! Who wouldn't want to face worse teams when it truly counted? Still, the IOC didn't share that same sentiment and banned the players from further competing. Just another fascinating badminton conspiracy... but not really.

8 Underage Chinese Gymnasts

The sport of gymnastics is typically dominated by younger athletes, as they have the ability to contort and flip much easier than a fully-grown competitor. Still, the IOC sets its limits to compete on the mat at 16 years old. Apparently China didn't get the memo. In 2000, Chinese gymnast, Dong Fangxiao, won a bronze medal in Sydney, but was stripped of her hardware after discovering that she was only 14 while competing.

Okay, so China learned their lesson, right? Not so fast. During the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, the host country seemed to be skirting the rules again. Several of their squad members looked to be fresh out of grade school. While the Chinese government claimed that these girls were indeed 16, documents online possibly proved otherwise. Still, nothing came of the scandal, and the underage gymnast conspiracy is still floating around the internet today!

7 Chinese Government Controls The Weather

Tin-foil hat conspiracy theorists will often cry that the government uses airplane chemtrails to control the weather. While the whole thing sounds crazy, the Chinese government successfully kept the 2008 Summer Olympic opening ceremonies dry by altering the weather, since the "Bird's Nest" Stadium was built without a roof.

While the forecast called for ran, it was no match for the 1,100 rockets that were launched into the sky before the games. The technology worked by inducing clouds to participate prematurely before they reached the Olympic venue. The particles in the projectiles, , consisting of silver iodide and dry ice, act as nuclei for the vapor to freeze to, resulting in precipitation.

Crazy, right? But China has invested billions in this ungodly technology, utilizing it to control the weather. Ethical or not, this conspiracy turns out to be true!

6 The 'Miracle On Ice' Was Fixed

The unforgettable 1980 hockey match-up between the Americans and the Soviets was one for the ages.  A powerful team from the USSR fell to the amateur American squad in the 1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid.  But was it fixed?

First, former Soviet defensemen and Red Wings star, Slava Fetisov, blamed the KGB for the loss. At the time, the Russian club team, Dynamo Moscow, were represented by the KGB and their in-town rivals, CSKA Moscow, were represented by the Red Army. Clearly, CSKA Moscow had the better players, but somehow the lesser-Dynamo players got more playing time. Sketchy, right?

On top of that, President Jimmy Carter was in talks at the time to boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow (which the USA eventually did). Still, the Soviets knew that public interest would dwindle without the Americans competing, leaving many to theorize that the 'Miracle On Ice' was nothing but a ploy to keep America from boycotting. It obviously didn't work, but you can't help but wonder if it's true.

5 Why Did So Many Golfers Skip Rio?

Golf made its way to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, but many of the sport's top stars didn't show up. Players like McIlroy, Speith, Fowler, Scott, and several others forewent the games for different reasons. Some stated that it didn't fit into their schedule, while others raised concerns about the potential threat of the Zika virus. If the latter were the case, why weren't other athletes withdrawing from the Olympics?

While the most likely reason for these golfers skipping the games was money, there was a more sinister reason: drug testing. The PGA supposedly implemented a strict anti-doping policy in 2008, but per some golfers, it hasn't been enforced. Rory McIlroy even stated in June 2016 that:

" I could use HGH and get away with it."

On the other hand, the IOC has a stricter policy when it comes to drug testing, leaving many to wonder: were these golfers skipping out on the Olympics because they were doping? We might not ever know the truth, but it surely seems plausible.

4 Phelps Lost But Still Got Gold

We head back to the 2008 games in Beijing for our next Olympic conspiracy theory. All-time great swimmer, Michael Phelps, dominated the pool and grabbed a record eight gold medals in the process. But, the problem is that he won only seven, not eight races!

In one of his specialties, the 100-m butterfly, Phelps started off slow, yet finished strong. Still, despite his comeback, from the untrained eye, it looked like Phelps was beat-out by Serbia's Milorad Cavic. As the final times were posted, a miracle took place as the American edged the Serbian by 0.01 seconds. For reference, it takes 0.3 seconds to blink!

How could this be? Cavic clearly touched the wall before Phelps (as seen from the photo) but he didn't press it hard enough to register on the touchpad. Unfortunately for Cavic, Phelps retained his gold medal, but the whole race is still a hot topic in the swimming world to this day!

3 1972 Basketball Scandal

Another USA-USSR controversy erupted at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. The Soviet's squeaked by the Americans with a 51-50 victory during the gold medal match in basketball, but not without some help from the referees.

Even though Team USA started slowly, they worked their way back in front with three seconds remaining after Doug Collins sunk two-free throws, leading 50-49.  The Soviets could not call a timeout after the free-throws due to international rules, and had to in-bound it immediately, which then the coach could call a timeout from the sidelines.

The pass went errant, and USA celebrated. But, per one official, the Soviets called a timeout during Collins' second free-throw. The time-out was granted and the Soviets took the ball out of bounds. Another errant pass and the Americans celebrated yet again! But, the Bulgarian referee called another stoppage in play due to nonexistent fans on the court.

Finally, the third-time was a charm for the Soviets, in a play that seemed to violate so many basketball rules. The Americans protested but lost their appeal. Clearly, there was some foul play involved!

2 Russian Doping Ban

What do you do when your entire country is banned from the Olympics for doping? Blame the enemies of course. Russian lawmaker, Sergei Markov - who has strong tries to Putin and the Kremlin - concocted a conspiracy that the USA, Great Britain, and Canada forced the IOC into banning Russia from the 2018 Winter Olympics. More specifically, he wrote in a Facebook post that these Western Powers were making sure that:

"...there would be no Russian flag and no President Putin there [in PyeongChang]"

Many nationalists in the motherland were opposed clean athletes competing under the Olympic flag in South Korea, essentially calling them traitors. Others urged for Russia to hold their own Olympics, giving winners "Audis and Beemers." Clearly this theory is nothing more than propaganda, but an entire country thinks it to be true, so it made the list!

1 The 1936 Munich Olympics

The 1936 Summer Olympics in Munich will forever be known as the Nazi Olympics. With Adolf Hitler overseeing the competition, he originally forbid Jews and black people from participating. When many countries considered boycotting the games due to the blatant racism, the fascist regime allowed them to compete. It was theorized that the Nazis were using the event to promote the falsehood that the Aryan race was the ultimate physical specimen.

The Nazis took home 89 total medals, with the next highest country, USA, grabbing only 56. Many believed that the competitions had been fixed by the Germans. Still, it was not the medal count that is remembered from the Olympics, but the effective political protests of the athletes.

Clearly, this conspiracy of Germans tampering in the Olympics turned out to be true - but, the theories go deeper. Jewish-American sprinters were hastily removed before competing, because supposedly Hitler wouldn't want Jewish athletes flourishing. The entire situation is completely mind-blowing, making it the top Olympic conspiracy that may be true!