LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 03: Gabriella Taylor of Great Britain plays a backhand during the Girl’s singles first round match against Morgan Coppoc of The United States on Middle Sunday of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 3, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

The Olympics isn’t the only major sporting event to happen that finds itself in the middle of a weird, potentially criminal scandal.

The Daily Telegraph reports that Scotland Yard is investigating if British tennis player Gabriella Taylor, 18, was poisoned with bacteria from rat urine at Wimbledon. Furthermore, the investigation is also looking into whether an organized crime syndicate was involved in the potential poisoning.

During the junior girls competition at Wimbledon, Taylor had advanced further than any other British tennis player. However, during her quarterfinal match she had to pull out and at first it was thought she had to pull out due to food poisoning. When she continued to feel worse and worse, she spent four days in the ICU while doctors still failed to diagnose her.

Eventually, Taylor received her diagnosis of Leptospirois. This type of infection can be fatal and is typically transferred through rat urine. As a result, it’s very rare to contract, so much so that officials think her infection was no accident:

“The bacteria the infection team found is so rare in Britain that we feel this could not have been an accident. Her bags with her drinks in were often left unattended in the players’ lounge and someone could have taken the opportunity to contaminate her drink.”

Due to her rising stardom, investigators are looking into if the urine was given to her by a syndicate or a rival:

Police launched a criminal investigation last week amid fears that she had been deliberately poisoned in an attempt to wreck her tournament chances.

One theory being explored is that Miss Taylor may have been targeted by an organised crime betting syndicate.

But the police probe will also raise questions over whether she could have been the subject of a malicious plot by a rival player or coach from the fiercely competitive junior circuit.

In effort to track where the strain came from, detectives looked at the water bottles at Taylor’s home for evidence. However, the bacteria only has an incubation period of a couple of weeks so even had any evidence existed, it would have been gone by the time the investigation took place.

“The allegation was received by officers on 5 August with the incident alleged to have taken place at an address in Wimbledon between 1-10 July.”

“The victim was taken ill on 6 July. It is unknown where or when the poison was ingested. The victim, an 18 year-old woman, received hospital treatment and is still recovering.

While the police continue to investigate, Taylor is working her way back to competition.

About David Lauterbach

David is a writer for The Comeback. He enjoyed two Men's Basketball Final Four trips for Syracuse before graduating in 2016. If The Office or Game of Thrones is on TV, David will be watching.