WTT Free Dance

[dorispulaski]

wallylutz, just saying, but the main reason that V&M lost at the GPF was because Scott fell on his butt in the SD, an event so rare in dance that V&M didn't skate the rest of the SD with their usual precision, further impacting their SD score. The FD was a virtual tie, and the 0.5 scoring error was far overshadowed by the cost of the fall.

For Scott then to go off on the judging, which is what he did, was not particularly sportsmanlike, nor particularly wise. He apparently thought that he and Tessa had at least a one fall buffer for the win, due to his low opinion of Meryl & Charlie's skating.

I had a record of the Story of Robin Hood when I was a child, sold originally by Scholastic Press. It had a herald singing this song to administer the Sportsman's oath to the contestants before the archery contest:

Herald:
A sportsman's always courteous, he never whines and cries
And even though he thinks he'll lose, he goes ahead and tries
He goes ahead & tries, my lads, he goes ahead and tries
And he never makes excuses like the sun was in my eyes.
Competitors:
We will never make excuses like the sun was in our eyes.

Herald:
A sportsman still remains a sport although he's being beat
He will not curse, he will not cry, nor kick out with his feet
Nor kick out with his feet, my lads, nor kick out with his feet,
and he will never, never, never, never, never, never cheat.

This part is so important that I really must repeat:
he will never, never, never, never, never, never cheat.

Competitors:
We will never, never, never, never, never, never cheat.

Now granted this is over 50 years ago, but this oath has always seemed to me very like the Olympic oath, if somewhat more amusing:

At the start of each Olympics, every athlete promises to play fairly and obey all of the Olympic rules. One athlete from the host country takes this oath at the Opening Ceremonies on behalf of all athletes. The chosen athlete holds a corner of the Olympic Flag while repeating the oath:

"In the name of all competitors, I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules that govern them, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honor of our teams."

Is the understanding of true sportsmanship different in Canada for Olympic sport than this?