What the..?

[berthes ghost]

Is my memory failing me, or are there more contested results in Athens than ever before. Equestrian, Swimming, and now Gymnastics. What gives?

 

[Piel]

Maybe after SLC more folks are willing to protest?

 

[JonnyCoop]

Interesting point. Maybe SLC opened up the floodgates and now the carping can begin.... :\

Tho near as I can tell, and based on what I've heard (which may be limited), the only "contesting of results" going on in gymnastics is the whining of competitors who lost.

Interesting how the whole Aaron Piersol thing is being spurred on by a British official when it's a British swimmer who's going to get a bronze if they DQ Piersol. :sheesh:

 

[thisthingcalledlove]

Interesting how the whole Aaron Piersol thing is being spurred on by a British official when it's a British swimmer who's going to get a bronze if they DQ Piersol. :sheesh:

Markus ROgan, the silver medalist actually said it was political- that the Korean judge who judged the turn illegal was doing it for political reasons. Rogan also said he wouldn't accept the gold if Piersol had been stripped.

It was suggested that Piersol had been disqualified for "politi-cal reasons". The previous evening the American had denouced Japan's double butterfly champion, Kosuke Katajima, for an illegal kick.
Last night, Piersol's transgression was alleged to have been kicking freestyle on his stomach, while still rotating to get in position.
"I believe politics are everywhere," said Rogan, who acknowledged he had been well beaten. "This might have been something to do with Aaron's outspoken comments . . . I am happy with my silver medal. For a moment I thought about gold, and the idea was just beautiful, but after all it's fair like this. Aaron is a very honest person. I'm sure he swam fairly."
Jodie Henry won the 100m freestyle. She tamed Holland's Inge de Bruijn for the second time with 53.84, while Amanda Beard won the women's 200m breaststroke.
The Glasgow-based Commonwealth champion Rebecca Cooke was second-fastest qualifier for the 800m final with 8:28.47, but Britain's world 200 backstroke champion Katy Sexton reached the final in eighth place, squeezing in by just two hundredths of a second.
Phelps, meanwhile, remains on course for eight medals because US officials may swim him in the heats of the medley relay tonight.
BRITAIN'S head of swimming, Bill Sweetenham, boiled over at the Olympic Aquatic Centre last night, denouncing "incompetent paperwork" which cost Britain a medal.
Aaron Piersol of the USA touched the wall more than two seconds clear, with an Olympic record, in the 200 metres backstroke, but was disqualified for an illegal turn. He was then re-instated on a technicality.
Britain and Austria, who have a vested interest, launched an appeal to FINA, the world body, but it was rejected, leaving 21-year-old James Goddard, from Manchester, in fourth and Markus Rogan in the silver position. The British equestrians, who are awaiting a verdict following official intervention, will be hoping for better luck.
The swimming medal in dispute should have been a potential gold for Goddard. He was second at the final turn, 0.09 clear of third, but swam into the ropes in the roofless pool some 20 metres out, and almost came to a stop.
The row threatened to overshadow a fourth gold for Michael Phelps, of the USA, who remains on course for a record eight medals. Phelps broke his own Olympic mark, set in the heats, as he won the 200m individual medley in 1min 57.14sec. This is 1.20sec outside the world best he established last year. He now has four golds and two bronze, with the 100m butterfly and a relay remaining.
Piersol received his medal last night, but Sweetenham, Britain's Australian performance director, was furious that the case went so far. "I
am extremely disappointed that it was overturned on a technicality, when the infringement was obvious," he said. "To have an infringement overturned because of incompetent paperwork is nonsensical."
Piersol was identified by Korean Woon Sui Kut as having performed an illegal turn at the 150m mark. The rules state the race referee must provide his reasons in writing, in clear English. Officials said it was "inadequate, and not in the working language of FINA" which is English.
Goddard refused to blame the fact that he could not chart his course because of the absence of a roof. "I'm not used to outdoors. Maybe that's a factor, but it's no excuse," he said.
Edinburgh's Gregor Tait finished seventh, with 1:59.28. If he had matched his Commonwealth record of 1:57.42, set earlier this year in Sheffield, he would have had bronze, protest or no protest. That went to Razvan Florea, of Romania, with 1:57.56. "I'd have preferred to have come away with a better position," said the 25-year-old Commonwealth silver medallist. "I thought I was in the race, but it seems I wasn't. My tactic was a medal. I'll need to go away and start again, basically."
It was suggested that Piersol had been disqualified for "politi-cal reasons". The previous evening the American had denouced Japan's double butterfly champion, Kosuke Katajima, for an illegal kick.
Last night, Piersol's transgression was alleged to have been kicking freestyle on his stomach, while still rotating to get in position.
"I believe politics are everywhere," said Rogan, who acknowledged he had been well beaten. "This might have been something to do with Aaron's outspoken comments . . . I am happy with my silver medal.

 

[Mathman]

I don't know if there is more complaining and protesting this year or not. There has always been disputed and politically biased judging, together with "reforms" of the judging process to make sure it didn't happen next time.

Boxing is a famous example. In the Seoul games, I remember an American boxer just beat his opponent to a pulp, but the Turkish judge gave the bout to the other guy, bragging boldly that he did it to make an anti-American statement. The judge was kicked out of the games, but the decision stood.

In that same games the local Korean fighter also lost in the gold medal bout in his weight class. In protest he staged a sit-in right there in the ring, delaying all of the rest of the contests for about two hours.

I don't know whether the new "CoP" system for the scoring of boxing matches is any better than the old "10 point must" system or not.

Mathman

PS. I thought the shot putter who faulted five times in a row and ended up with the silver showed a lot of class in his interviews the next day. He basically said, that's sport, see you in Beijing.

 

[Kasey]

I must be in a coma, which gymnastics result is being protested?

Kasey

 

[mpal2]

Paul Hamm's All Around gold is contested. The Korean competitors said that one of his routines should have had a start value of 10 but was given a 9.9 start value. Paul would have gotten the silver in that case. However, I read an article that said the start value must be contested during the competition and will not be changed afterwards according to the rules.

What I found interesting is that the Romanian girl who won the All Around in Sydney and then was disqualified over medicine is going to contest that she should still have the gold. Apparently that substance is no longer illegal and she feels she shouldn't have been stripped of the medal in Sydney.

 

[BronzeisGolden]

I am sick to death of these Olympic scandals! The competitions are hell enough on my nerves....but all of the post-event BS is too much. Get it right the first time! This has to be agonizing for these athletes that have done absolutely nothing wrong. Don't these team officials double check to insure that the starting values for each athlete are correct, etc? That is an extremely important detail and certainly that has to be in someone's job description!

But, having complained about that, I really think Andrea Raducan (sp?) should be given her Gold medal back. The commentators said that banned substances are rarely, if ever, taken off of the list and that really says something. And, wasn't it something in a Sudafed pill given to her by a Romanian physician? But, again, that would be unfair to the Chinese girl that was bumped from 4th to bronze. So, yet again scandal has marred another potentially great moment.

 

[Kasey]

Andrea Raducan should NOT have a gold medal. Sorry. But the substance was banned at the time of her Olympics. They got it right. The fact that it isn't now does not undo past history. She needs to let it go. If they had taken it off the banned list the next day, I could maybe understand it. NOW is not then.

Kasey

 

[soogar]

ITA that Raducan should not have the gold medal and the Romanians should probably let that drop. Just like Edwards is not cleared to race, there has to be a zero tolerance policy (even though many athletes get away with drugs) b/c then athletes will just be looking for loopholes to use illicit substances.

 

[JOHIO2]

The men's high bar head honcho made it difficult for 2 US men, telling them at the last minute that their routines were over-rated at last year's worlds. Didn't the Koreans pay any attention to start value before the all-around? After all, they had a chance to argue about the start values 2 times in team competition. Did the judge change their routine values at the Olympics? Just seems sour grapes. After all, their athletes got the other two medals in AR.

 

[BronzeisGolden]

Sorry, I still disagree about the Raducan issue. I think this girl deserves much more than to go down in Olympic history books as a footnote. The once illegal substance that was in her body is now considered harmless, obviously. It in no way gave her the extra boost that propelled her towards victory in Sydney. She earned her title. Why is she to blame? Or even the Romanian doctor? How about the faulty technology, information, etc. that led to this particular agent being placed on the "banned" list? I say blame the people that were responsible for mistakenly placing this agent on the list...not the athlete that worked her entire life for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rise above obscurity. It is easy to say "they should just let it go" when you aren't the one that has had their greatest accomplishment ripped away.

 

[soogar]

Maybe the substance did enhance performance, but with all the sophisticated drugs out there the IOC figured that it wasn't worth testing for that substance. As for Raducan's lost accomplishment, yes it was bad, but why don't we award the US swimmers who had lost to the doped up East Germans gold medals as well. Their accomplishments are just as noteworthy and hardworked for as Raducan's. The fact of the matter is that life isn't always fair (ask Khorkina who lost at Sydney b/c of the too low vault, and I think they should started the competition over again b/c falls do affect how people do their other events, esp in an event that is decided by thousandths of a point) and I can't imagine how a person can go on with life if constantly revisiting the past.

 

[BronzeisGolden]

Sorry, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. I don't believe the IOC would take a substance off of the "banned" list if they feared it enhanced performance whatsoever. There had to be a very significant reason for choosing to remove it and I don't believe it was just because they had too many other "sophisticated" drugs to test for. I'll also say once again: it is very easy to judge this type of situation from the outside, but when your life dream and perhaps even your future livelihood is denied you....it certainly is a big deal and definitely worth a review.

I would not have such an issue with this if the IOC would be more consistent. At one Olympic Games a drug is bad, bad, bad....at the next Olympics it is just fine. That is completely unfair no matter how you look at it. And yes, you can give the same old tired bit that life is unfair, but that is enormously cynical and such a cliche. As for the multiple medals most likely won by numerous East German, etc. athletes performing with the aid of "banned" substances....they didn't catch it. They caught Raducan...and four years later did a 360 and said what she did was acceptable in a way. IOC inconsistency is unacceptable. They themselves have opened the door to this type of situation and they need to deal with it appropriately.

 

[alina]

As for the multiple medals most likely won by numerous East German, etc. athletes performing with the aid of "banned" substances....they didn't catch it

...and numerous American athletes!
In front of the last olympic games in the USA the american fedaration stopped all doping tests during the training period. Interesting, isn´t it? Not only the athletes of the East were or are the bad ones.
My opinion: All athletes who are caught by doping should be banned for their whole life. Raducan took something what was on the doping list at that time and she, and when not she then her doctor had to know that. It was forbidden and there is no excuse.