Doping scandals. Bribery allegations. Fears about Zika. Political, economic and corruption crises.

What else could go wrong?

The past few days have unleashed a wave of grim news for the Olympics, battering four host cities — past, present and future — on three continents, and further eroding public trust in the credibility of the global sports movement.

The 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, the upcoming Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo — all have been caught up in an unprecedented meltdown of trouble.

Just when the sports world thought it had pulled away from the darkest days of the FIFA and IAAF scandals, a confluence of turmoil this week brought the clouds back and threatened the image and prestige of the Olympics, less than three months before the Aug. 5 opening ceremony in Brazil.

It poses a new test for the International Olympic Committee, which endured its worst crisis with the Salt Lake City bidding scandal in the late 1990s.

Richard Ings, former chief executive of Australia’s anti-doping agency, said sports leaders must work quickly or “sink further into this quicksand.”

“It’s about sport and the credibility of sport,” he said. “And the responsibilities rest with sports administrators who are failing to reform.”

David Larkin, an attorney and sports corruption expert, blames the continuing scandals on “a failed governance model, a broken system of sport justice and a troubled doping system.”

A look at the chaos across the Olympic world:

 

Sochi scandal

The 2014 Games were attacked by critics for a reported $51 billion price tag. Now they may be remembered for one of the biggest sporting frauds ever exposed. The former head of Moscow’s anti-doping lab, Grigory Rodchenkov, detailed in The New York Times how Russia operated a state-sponsored scheme that included exchanging bottles of tainted urine samples for clean ones through a concealed hole in the wall of the Sochi lab.

The doping program reportedly involved at least 15 Russian medal winners. Russian officials denied the allegations Friday, with President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman denouncing Rodchenkov’s claims as “a turncoat’s libel.” The World Anti-Doping Agency will investigate.

The IOC said it “will not hesitate to act decisively to punish those responsible.” If the cheating is proven, and it’s unclear how much hard evidence exists, it could result in mass disqualifications and stripping of medals. The Sochi Olympics, one of Putin’s pet projects, could wind up as Russia’s Shame Games.

The new doping allegations won’t help Russia’s case for having its track and field athletes reinstated for the Rio Games. They were suspended by the IAAF following a WADA panel report that found state-sponsored cheating. Pressure also mounted on Kenya — and its celebrated distance runners — when the East African nation was declared non-compliant Thursday with WADA’s rules.