Figure Skating Judges in Olympics.....

[paean]

Actually, I'd say those two DID lose graciously. They are not the ones complaining. It's the other athletes, the fans and those of us who have grown up with winter sports... WE are bitching. It seems the only people not complaining are the skaters. If anyone deserves the right to be pissed off, its them. It was their dream getting crushed. Not ours.

And although I did enjoy both performances, the Canadians had a refinement and attention to detail that the Russians lacked. I hope the next time around, all is "fair". I'd hate to win a medal that _I_ didn't deserve. I'm sure all the gold medalists feel the same way.

[spnx]

Originally posted by ales
I wanted to stay out of it but I can't. I don't know what you were watching, but to me the Canadians skated well, but the Russians skated better. For Pete's sake, watch the whole performances again (not just the juicy bits). If you lose, lose graciously.

I suppose this illustrates how subjective it is.

However, the French judge has admitted publically to conspiring to agree to mark the Russians higher than the Canadians, regardless of how either peformed.

"Lose graciously"?

Well, if the JUDGE has admitted to corruption, I don't think losing graciously figures ANYWHERE into ANYTHING.

[freedivr2]

Sorry Ales, but you're way wrong. The guy ruskie almost fell down once and in the spins didn't keep up with his partner. Team eh! didn't make ANY mistakes. That's the facts.

Sorry, but the ruskies didn't deserve the gold. And the chinese didn't deserve the bronze, either.


LOSE GRACIOUSLY? Who said they lost? I say they accepted the silver medal, when they knew they deserved gold, very graciously. But to lose graciously means you lost. They did not. They got hosed out of the gold.

These performances should be virtually WITHOUT a mistake in order to get a medal. Then, the difference between the medals should be the height and number of spins, the speed, you know, like anything else in competition.....whoever is better should win, above and beyond making mistake. You make a glaring mistake or fall, you should be out of medal contention. That's my 2 cents.....

[taranaki]

this thread is generating a lot of heat...so Iam going to re-post a comment that I made yesterday in Honda OT.

It's a shame how quickly some people can lose their sense of humour over something that has little or no influence on their lives.ITS ICE SKATING FOR CHRISSAKES.If there has been any cheating going on ,it will be exposed in due course.
But perhaps it is time to face up to the fact that the Olympics has become a breeding ground for all that is rotten and corrupt in 'amateur' international sport today.In case anybody has forgotten,the whole event is taking place in a city whose reputation is now tarnished forever by the steps that were taken to ensure selection.Here's a refresher........

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/ol...probe/overview/

The Olympics are as bent as a nine dollar note.Anybody who believes that the best athletes always win is naive.

[-cy-]

Although the lack of change to our lives b/c of bad judging is true, its not our lives we are upset about. These ice skaters have worked their entire life at trying to be the best. For some of them the Olympics are still a pure and important event to them, and winning gold can be one of their life goals. Now when 2 atheletes have put their LIVES into a performance, do better which is obvious to everyone virtually (a poll was done by MSNBC, or something, out of over 200,000 people voting, around 95%-97% believed the Candians deserved the Gold), it is sickening. If you have ever been in a competition that you worked coutnless hours on, put first before MANY other things in your life, and then not gotten when was deserved (especially when almost everyone agrees with you), you can understand this on a SMALL scale as compared to what they went through.

[taranaki]

I'm sorry but I just don't care about what happens to anybody who is foolish enough to spend their entire life devoted to anything as ridiculous as figure skating,only to put their skills to the test in a crooked and meaningless competition such as the Olympics.If you are entering the Olympics in the true spirit of sport,i.e. getting out there and having a lot of fun,that's cool.But anybody who spends the best years of their lives training for the Olympics in the mistaken belief that they are entering a fair and honest test of skill is,quite frankly ,deluded.And as for being able to throw yourself in the air,twist round three times and land back on the ice without bruising your butt.....it has to be up there with synchronised swimming as one of the most pointless activities known to man.

[tazdev]

The Olympics used to be about celerbrating sport and having a go.
Like the Kiwi Luger that has no track to practice on and always has a smile at the end of the day. GO KIWI.



Oh yeah the Canadiens were robbed

[YogsVR4]

I'm sorry but I just don't care about what happens to anybody who is foolish enough to spend their entire life devoted to anything as ridiculous as figure skating,only to put their skills to the test in a crooked and meaningless competition such as the Olympics.If you are entering the Olympics in the true spirit of sport,i.e. getting out there and having a lot of fun,that's cool.But anybody who spends the best years of their lives training for the Olympics in the mistaken belief that they are entering a fair and honest test of skill is,quite frankly ,deluded.And as for being able to throw yourself in the air,twist round three times and land back on the ice without bruising your butt.....it has to be up there with synchronised swimming as one of the most pointless activities known to man.

I feel the same way about the NBA - what a joke.

[gang$tarr]

yeah the canadians deserved the gold....


and taranaki all that stuff you said is your OWN opinion..... most of us disagree with.

Yeah the olympics are corrupted but they shouldn't be, so people are trying to make it right.

And you sound like somebody that hasn't cared about 1 thing in their entire life.
People enjoy doing things like sports, and when they get really good, they want to be the best. Where else are they going to go to showcase their talents? The olympics are the world stage

[taranaki]

Originally posted by gang$tarr
yeah the canadians deserved the gold....


and taranaki all that stuff you said is your OWN opinion..... most of us disagree with.

Yeah the olympics are corrupted but they shouldn't be, so people are trying to make it right.

And you sound like somebody that hasn't cared about 1 thing in their entire life.
People enjoy doing things like sports, and when they get really good, they want to be the best. Where else are they going to go to showcase their talents? The olympics are the world stage

For some people there is a purpose of living

You are right gang$tarr,it is my own opinion,so get over it! As to your snide remarks about "for some people there is a purpose of living",you are right again...MY purpose of living is to feed,clothe and care for myself,my wife and my children.To have some spoilt and ignorant college kid try to tell me that pissing around on an ice rink actually ought to matter to me is insulting.Unlike yourself Gang$tarr,I have my priorities set out to meet the needs of my family first. To me that is far more important than trying to be the best in the world at anything .If you want to tell me that I need to get a life ,first you can tell me what you have achieved in yours.

[gang$tarr]

whoa, i re-read that and that sounded real harsh
i didn't really mean it in that way, i meant that figure skating is their life.... that's what their life circles around.
i'm sure in their opinion, their purpose for living is figure skating. (aswell as family and all the other usual things)


But they got the gold medal today anyway, so it doesn't matter

I was just trying to point out that it doesn't matter if it's figure skating or something else, something they worked hard for and deserve was takin away from them, which isn't right.

just because it doesn't affect a members life directly doesn't mean it's not worth talking about

[taranaki]

Originally posted by gang$tarr
whoa, i re-read that and that sounded real harsh
i didn't really mean it in that way, i meant that figure skating is their life.... that's what their life circles around.
i'm sure in their opinion, their purpose for living is figure skating. (aswell as family and all the other usual things)


But they got the gold medal today anyway, so it doesn't matter

I was just trying to point out that it doesn't matter if it's figure skating or something else, something they worked hard for and deserve was takin away from them, which isn't right.

just because it doesn't affect a members life directly doesn't mean it's not worth talking about

hey its cool.If I mis-read it it's my bad.....Besides, you caught me on a bad day,I'm majorly pissed at something else right now...see stress release!