History of Sports Cheats at the Gardner Museum

Author Bob Ainsworth will speak about Sports Cheats on Thursday, September 4 from 7:00-8:00pm after a museum-hosted reception at 6:30pm. 

You asked—and we got him back! After his popular presentation in Sept 2024, author Bob Ainsworth returns with Sports Cheats, Frauds, and Con Artists, coinciding with the museum’s Fall/Winter Sports Exhibit. From Bill Belichick and Spygate to Tom Brady and Deflategate, Nancy Kerrigan’s attack by Tonya Harding, and Alex Cora’s sign-stealing scandal, Bob explores infamous moments when athletes and coaches broke the rules to win. Cheating, he reveals, isn’t limited to major sports—it happens everywhere people compete, from fencing and chess to the Olympics and even the Special Olympics. Tracing cheats and scandals from ancient times to today, Bob shares stories both familiar and surprising—entertaining, amazing, and shocking audiences with tales of winning at any cost.