08-23-2004, 01:55 PM
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#1 (permalink)
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Should Sports That Require Judging be in the Olympics
Another situation that shows the flaws in judged events at the olympics.
http://www.canada.com/sports/insidea...b-f81e2b63eb80
Quote:
Canada protesting vault result
Jim Morris
Canadian Press
Monday, August 23, 2004
ATHENS -- Canada launched a protest in Olympic gymnastics Monday, arguing that the Romanian who knocked Calgary 's Kyle Shewfelt off the podium in vault was improperly marked.
The effect of the appeal was unclear, however. Normally appeals are limited to your own gymnast's marks rather than those of a rival gymnast and Canadian coach Tony Smith told CBC that the appeal had initially been rejected.
Adding to the intrigue was the fact that the appeal was turned down by the men's technical director of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) - a Romanian.
Canadian officials pledged to keep fighting. However, it was unclear what their next step was.
''I think he deserved the bronze,'' J.P. Caron, president and CEO of Gymnastics Canada, said of Shewfelt.
Shewfelt, who won the gold in Sunday's floor exercise, fell to fourth in the vault when Marian Dragulescu, the last competitor, got better marks despite the fact the Romanian slid sideways off the mat landing his second vault.
Despite the slip, the judges gave Dragulescu a 9.325. Dragulescu had nailed his first vault, earning a 9.900. That translated into a final score of 9.612.
Shewfelt's first vault earned a mark of 9.687, with the second worth 9.512 for a final mark of 9.599.
''We believe the score of Dragulescu was mathematically impossible,'' said Caron.
''His start value is a 9.9 and based on what we've seen, a fall with two hands on the floor, plus he also has a few steps on top of that, would be at least a minimum of .7 deduction.''
Canadian officials argued that the Romanian's maximum score from the second vault should have been 9.1.
''We ask that you rectify this injustice to avoid continuing scandal over the judging at these Olympics,'' Caron said in his protest letter.
The Canadian protest is just the latest fly in the Olympics gymnastics' ointment.
South Korea is up in arms over a scoring error that gave American Paul Hamm the all-around title over Yang Tae-young.
Shewfelt's vault marks initially were good enough to put him in second, with two gymnasts to go.
Defending champion Gervasio Deferr of Spain pushed him back down into third. Then Dragulescu knocked him off the podium completely.
Deferr won the gold with a score of 9.737. Latvia's Evgeni Sapronenko won the silver with 9.706 and Dragulescu the bronze with 9.612.
Shewfelt had edged Dragulescu for the floor gold on a judges' countback after the two finished with the same score.
Despite the scoring brouhaha, Shewfelt was gracious in his fourth-place finish.
''I feel great, I feel good. It's unfortunate I couldn't have gotten another medal today. But I came and accomplished my goal,'' Shewfelt said. ''I wanted to put both vaults on my feet. Yesterday was huge, history-making and I'm really going to focus on that.''
''I felt like I was flying out there, I didn't have the best sleep last night because my life goal was accomplished, I felt great. Coming into the gym today I felt very comfortable.''
Shewfelt, the first Canadian to win an Olympic artistic gymnastic medal, came to Athens with top credentials. He won bronze medals in floor and vault at the 2003 World Championships, and gold medals in floor and vault at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
He was 12th in the floor competition at the 2000 Games in Sydney.
The last Canadian man to win two individual medals at a Games was swimmer Curtis Myden. He picked up bronze in the 200 and 400 IM at Atlanta in 1996.
Shewfelt says he's not sure about his future in gymnastics.
''There are lots of options, I love gymnastics at this point more than I ever have.''
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Sticky The Stickman
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