Olympic Pairs Figure Skating (sorry I need to vent)

[Garnet FalconDance]

Problem is, now there's two golds (one undeserved, but if it were rescinded, then the bronze winners would also be booted....) which is a parody of what should be. Personally I would think the Russians' 'victory' must leave a sour taste....clouded over by contraversy, world opinion (seems to hold) that the medal never should have been awarded to them to begin with, and surely the skaters themselves realize they were undeserving as they skated poorly.

[norompanlasolas]

see, its not just figure skating, the french are doing this all over the place now. [img]tongue.gif[/img]


FRENCH JUDGE GIVES TALIBAN WIN
Afghan Fighters' Artistic Impression Marks Mysteriously Higher

Salt Lake City, Utah (SatireWire.com) — Despite making what most observers agreed were "obvious technical errors," such as surrendering, the Taliban were awarded victory in the Afghanistan war last night after the French judge said they won on presentation.

British and American Defense Secretaries Hoon (left) and Rumsfeld cannot hide their dismay as their marks are posted.
The decision snatched triumph away from a U.S./U.K. pair who most agreed put on a magical, career-defining performance last month. It also stirred an immediate controversy, as analysts questioned how five judges — from France, Russia, China, Poland, and Ukraine — could have scored the Taliban higher than the American/British fighters.

"When the Americans and British finished, I thought, 'That's it. They've won,'" said Abdur Muhammed, a former Syrian general and now color commentator with Al Jazeera. "But when I saw the scores last night, frankly, I was embarrassed for our profession."

However, a defiant Marie-Reine Le Gougne, the French judge who marked the Taliban a 5.9 out of a possible 6.0 for artistic impression, insisted the Afghan regime was much more eloquent.

"Hiding in caves, fighting with inferior weapons, the maneuvers they attempted were clearly more difficult," said Le Gougne. "And artistically, they were much more graceful, particularly with their hands."

"But their hands primarily went up," responded CNN military color analyst Gen Wesley Clark..

"Yes, but they were very fluid movements," Le Gougne answered.

That explanation only heightened calls for reform in warfare judging, and by today, pressure was mounting on the International Warfare Union to at least declare the U.S./U.K. duo as co-winners.

Taliban leader Mullah Omar, however, defended the scoring. "I don't see what the debate is about," he said. "Victory goes to whomever pleases the judges. We fought beautifully and deserved this win."

While clearly devastated, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld refused to be drawn into the debate. "War is subjective. It's judged," he said. "As soldiers we have to be happy that we did our best, and put this behind us."

British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon, however, hinted the U.K. may consider retiring from war. "When you work so hard to make your dreams come true, only to have them snatched away like this, it's... it's disillusioning," said Hoon, as he buried his face in his hands. "I only hope our judges return the favor the next time France competes."

[Yorick]

quote:

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Originally posted by Garnet FalconDance:
Personally I would think the Russians' 'victory' must leave a sour taste....clouded over by contraversy, world opinion (seems to hold) that the medal never should have been awarded to them to begin with, and surely the skaters themselves realize they were undeserving as they skated poorly.

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World opinion is not North American opinion Garnet. On Nine MSN, most Australians disagreed with the Canadians getting gold, as did most Eastern Europeans I believe. I think there is no consensus on world opinion on the matter.

[Ryanamur]

quote:

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Originally posted by Garnet FalconDance:
Problem is, now there's two golds (one undeserved, but if it were rescinded, then the bronze winners would also be booted....) which is a parody of what should be. Personally I would think the Russians' 'victory' must leave a sour taste....clouded over by contraversy, world opinion (seems to hold) that the medal never should have been awarded to them to begin with, and surely the skaters themselves realize they were undeserving as they skated poorly.

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The problem is not the Russians winning the medal. Both the Canadians and the Russians are exquisite skaters. The problem is with the judging and the politics that take place amongst the judges.

The Russian gold is no more tainted than the Canadian one. They are both gold medalist and that's the end of it. The Russians didn't skate poorly.

If you ask me, the deal was much deeper than just giving the gold to the Russian in Pairs and the gold to France in Dance. In pairs, the chineese shouldn't have gotten the podium. It should have been the second Russian team. In Danse, the Russian team actually skated better than the French team!

[Garnet FalconDance]

quote:

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Originally posted by Ryanamur:


The problem is not the Russians winning the medal. Both the Canadians and the Russians are exquisite skaters. The problem is with the judging and the politics that take place amongst the judges.

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I would agree with that. I love to watch figure skating and ice dancing...but I must admit I often wonder about the judging of these events. What I meant is that the whole fracas has put a pall over the sport for me--short-term, I'm sure, but upsetting none the less.