EA CO AS From United States of America, joined Nov 2001, 12595 posts, RR: 64 Posted (8 years 10 months 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 2909 times:
Great. Thanks to the unfortunate incident in Salt Lake City (where, to be fair, the French judge was found to have been cheating) complaining about the outcome of judged sporting events in hopes of altering the results after the fact have started to become commonplace.
The latest example? Russian silver medalist gymnast Svetlana Khorkina has bitterly complained that the women's all-around gymnastics competition was "fixed" in favor of American Carly Patterson:
MOSCOW (Reuters) -- Russia's Svetlana Khorkina, who was second to American Carly Patterson in the women's all-round gymnastics competition, has accused the judges of robbing her of the gold medal and said "everything was decided in advance."
"I'm just furious," Khorkina, who had been favorite for the coveted title, was quoted as saying in the daily Izvestia. "I knew well in advance, even before I stepped on the stage for my first event, that I was going to lose."
"Everything was decided in advance. I had no illusions about this when the judges gave me 9.462 for the vault after conferring with one another at length.
"I practically did everything right, still they just set me up and fleeced me," she said in the interview published on Saturday.
Asked why she felt she was marked down by the judges, Khorkina said: "You better ask them. I think it's because I'm from Russia, not from America!"
The self-proclaimed "diva" of Russian gymnastics could conceivably have a lucrative career of endorsements ahead of her if she doesn't screw it up with her whining.
Shut up, Svetlana.
[Edited 2004-08-23 18:00:22]
"In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem - government IS the problem." - Ronald Reagan
Banco From United Kingdom, joined Oct 2001, 14752 posts, RR: 55 Reply 1, posted (8 years 10 months 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 2884 times:
The trouble is, in "sports" where everything is based on what judges think, you're always going to have this kind of thing. If you watch any coverage for more than five minutes the commentators will invariably express surprise at a mark being too high or low. Not that it means they know any better of course, just that it comes solely down to opinions.
She's as nervous as a very small nun at a penguin shoot.
EA CO AS From United States of America, joined Nov 2001, 12595 posts, RR: 64 Reply 2, posted (8 years 10 months 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 2875 times:
The trouble is, in "sports" where everything is based on what judges think, you're always going to have this kind of thing.
While I agree to a point, it seems as if athletes are now attempting to leverage the media to alter the outcome of athletic competition.
"The results didn't suit me, so now I'll try to find ways to invalidate the result - or at least call it into question."
Sounds like they're taking hints from the Gore/Lieberman 2000 playbook!
"In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem - government IS the problem." - Ronald Reagan
Skyhawk From United States of America, joined May 2001, 1065 posts, RR: 4 Reply 3, posted (8 years 10 months 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 2856 times:
As one who has watched the Olympics for many years, the difference in abilities has become more and more advanced. The commentators are always telling us that a gymnast has to "stick" their landings. BTW these commentators are not just everyday observers as am I, but they are former champions in their own rights. So to say that they don't know any better than we, it is just not right.
During the competitions the other night, Svetlana did not once "stick" her landings. Carly on the other hand did. Granted she didn't have the greatest of vaults, but everything else was very good. Gymnast after gymnast took little steps after their landings.
For Svetlana to say that she was robbed, to me that is simply poor sportsmanship. She has been an absolutely outstanding gymnast in the past. Some of her inventive moves, especially on the uneven bars, are mind boggling. But like so many wonderful women of the past, she has arrived at the time to go gracefully, not poor mouthing everything around her. To me this really detracts from her and her abilities.
I am very sure there are those that probably agree with what she said, you have your right. I just hold that we have the right to disagree with each other.
Dvk From United States of America, joined Jun 2000, 1058 posts, RR: 1 Reply 5, posted (8 years 10 months 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 2841 times:
Khorkina is just bitter. She crashed on the uneven bars last night and is leaving Athens with no golds. She's well known for her mercurial temperament, and this is just another example. She probably longs for the days when the east European bloc controlled international gymnastics (she's old enough to remember), and therefore the judges. Want to talk about a fixed competition? How about 1988, when an East German judge misapplied a rule that keeps coaches away from the apparatus during a performance to penalize the US women a half a point (a team member pulled the trampoline away after a teammate had mounted the parallel bars, moved away from the apparatus, and crouched on the floor barely within camera shot), conveniently robbing them of the bronze medal and giving it to her own East German girls. The US protested, but the protest was , of course, rejected.
I think Sweatlana is just trying to stir the pot because of the judging controversy in the men's all around. She's ravenous for any publicity she can get.
I'm not dumb. I just have a command of thoroughly useless information.
KiwiNanday From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 7, posted (8 years 10 months 1 day 13 hours ago) and read 2736 times:
I'm just furious! I knew well in advance, even before I stepped on the stage for my first event, that I was going to lose. Everything was decided in advance. I had no illusions about this when the judges gave me 9.462 for the vault after conferring with one another at length. I practically did everything right, still they just set me up and fleeced me. You better ask them. I think it's because I'm from Russia, not from America!
Shut up, Svetlana! You were beat by a 16-year old, get over it!
SSTjumbo From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 8, posted (8 years 10 months 1 day 13 hours ago) and read 2706 times:
That's nice Svetlana
...and I was supposed to get interviews for a few jobs I didn't, I received a 3.85 GPA last semester instead of a 4.0, I was supposed to land a few music gigs that I didn't, and I should have had a few girls that I never had. Guess what? Life isn't fair, get over it.
Homer71 From United States of America, joined Jul 2001, 2209 posts, RR: 16 Reply 10, posted (8 years 10 months 1 day 12 hours ago) and read 2674 times:
Hey, Svetlana
You don't know CRAP about being robbed...
Sincerely,
Roy Jones, Jr.
"On spaceship earth there are no passengers...only crew."
Tom in NO From United States of America, joined Nov 1999, 7194 posts, RR: 40 Reply 11, posted (8 years 10 months 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 2628 times:
Hey, Svetlana
You don't know CRAP about being robbed...
Sincerely,
Roy Jones, Jr. .....
.....and the 1998-99 Buffalo Sabres
"The criminal ineptitude makes you furious"-Bruce Springsteen, after seeing firsthand the damage from Hurricane Katrina
EA CO AS From United States of America, joined Nov 2001, 12595 posts, RR: 64 Reply 12, posted (8 years 10 months 1 day 9 hours ago) and read 2601 times:
'I think everything was decided in advance,' Russian says
ATHENS, Greece - Russian Alexei Nemov said he felt cheated by the judges on Monday after an extraordinary display of "people power" brought pandemonium to the final evening of Olympic gymnastics in a furor over his mark.
“It’s my opinion, but I don’t think it was fair," the 28-year-old showman said after finishing fifth in possibly the most daring and dangerous event of all — the horizontal bars.
“I thought I deserved a bronze. I think everything was decided in advance,” he added.
Well whoop-de-frickin' do, you schmuck! Hell, I think I deserve to win the lottery every week - does it mean that's the way things have to be?!?
"In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem - government IS the problem." - Ronald Reagan
DeltaSFO From United States of America, joined Nov 2000, 2488 posts, RR: 24 Reply 13, posted (8 years 10 months 1 day 9 hours ago) and read 2600 times:
Supposedly she has posed in the Russian version of Playboy. What I want to know is who the hell would find her attractive. She belongs on the cover of a book about malnutrition, not a porno.
It's a new day. Every moment matters. Now, more than ever.
EA CO AS From United States of America, joined Nov 2001, 12595 posts, RR: 64 Reply 14, posted (8 years 10 months 1 day 8 hours ago) and read 2578 times:
Supposedly she has posed in the Russian version of Playboy. What I want to know is who the hell would find her attractive. She belongs on the cover of a book about malnutrition, not a porno.
I can't find the post, but another person here likened sleeping with the bony Svetlana Khorkina to "rolling around in bed with a duffel bag full of coathangers."
"In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem - government IS the problem." - Ronald Reagan
L-188 From United States of America, joined Jul 1999, 29367 posts, RR: 61 Reply 15, posted (8 years 10 months 1 day 6 hours ago) and read 2549 times:
Hey, we keep a copy of that GI photo in the office for the pilots
We also have the John Wayne "Sands of Iwo Jima" one that says, "Life is Tough, it is tougher when you are stupid"
Serious, it is a good thing I wasn't aware of the 88 incident, I would still be bitching about that too, along with the Roy Jones incident, the 72 Mens basketball team.
OBAMA-WORST PRESIDENT EVER....Even SKOORB would be better.
Usairwys757 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 16, posted (8 years 10 months 1 day 6 hours ago) and read 2537 times:
Carly Patterson had a PERFECT routine, how can Khorkina say it was fixed? Just accept your Silver medal with pride, dont try to bring others down just because you couldnt win gold. This kind of pisses me off. If she doesnt want Silver then tell her to give it back.
Tom in NO From United States of America, joined Nov 1999, 7194 posts, RR: 40 Reply 18, posted (8 years 10 months 1 day 6 hours ago) and read 2524 times:
.....and the 1998-99 Buffalo Sabres
My bad.....should have signed it "the 1972 USA Men's Basketball Team". Now those guys got robbed.
Tom at MSY
(.....although the Sabres were screwed out of a possible NHL title)
"The criminal ineptitude makes you furious"-Bruce Springsteen, after seeing firsthand the damage from Hurricane Katrina
Cool quote from MSNBC: "The U.S. now runs its Olympic program on a venture-capital model, funneling money to likely medal winners, and leaving the rest to pay their own way."
A reason the Olympics have been reduced to a joke....
Continental From United States of America, joined Jun 2000, 5476 posts, RR: 20 Reply 22, posted (8 years 10 months 1 day 5 hours ago) and read 2496 times:
I knew 'skelator' would end up whining and complaining in the end. She sucks, Carly kicked her bony ass.
Blink182 From Azerbaijan, joined Oct 1999, 5431 posts, RR: 19 Reply 23, posted (8 years 10 months 1 day 3 hours ago) and read 2467 times:
It's a royal shame that she couldn't have showed even a trace of dignity that her fellow countrymen Alexei Nemov showed today. On the highbar his routine was above and beyond anything that had been done in the competition (5 jumps just to start) and all he did was miss the landing the smallest bit(step back wards I believe).
The judges gave him a 9.6 or something, and after literally about 10 minutes of constant booing from the crowd and complete disagreement from NBC's commentators, the officials (at the urging of higher authority) changed the score to a 9.712(i believe) putting Nemov in position to win a bronze medal. Meanwhile Paul Hamm(who I find to be very talented) put on a show that was not nearly close to what Nemov did, but stuck the landing, got a 9.812 and eventually took silver. Nemov got knocked out of the medal standings.
Alexei Nemov had a routine on the highbar that was way above and beyond what anybody had performed and while absolutely nobody can figure out how he got such a low score(the judges were Canadian and Malaysian if it means anything), Nemov took it with dignity. Knowing full well he had been robbed, Nemov just stood there quietly and eventually he came out and smiled and got the crowd to calm down after about another 10 minutes.
Svetlana Khorkina may claim she got robbed, as did Alexei Nemov. Alexei Nemov though,much more decorated(4 golds,2 silver,6 bronze), took an unfair defeat with the upmost grace and dignity. It's a shame Svetlana couldn't.
blink
Give me a break, I created this username when I was a kid...
Russophile From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 24, posted (8 years 10 months 1 day 1 hour ago) and read 2446 times:
Nemov absolutely nailed that routine, except for the one small step forward at the end.
And this shows that there is something dreadful happening in gymnastics.
He was given a 9.725. Which after the crowd started booing (and rightly so), the score was changed to 9.762. It was the crowd, and the crowd alone, which caused the Canadian and Malaysian judge to change their score.
Also Blink182, Nemov has also come out and said that it does appear that the scoring has been decided in advance, calling his score 'unfair'.
25 An-225: Well, Nemov definitely deserved a medal; I'd say that the Italian guy deserved his gold, but Nemov definitely deserved a silver medal. As for scores b
26 CPH-R: To top it off, I was zapping back & forward between the high bar even and the horse vault - and on the latter, one the gymnasts botched the landing co
27 KiwiNanday: ...and I thought the Cold War was over! Tell me when you guys are done nuking each other.
28 Skyhawk: If anyone got robbed in gymnastics, it was most certainly Nemov. BTW he did 6 releases not 5. In my opinion, such as it is, Alexei deserved the gold,
29 Dvk: It's a well documented fact that the officials in the 72 basketball final made an egregious error at the end of the game, putting time back on the clo
30 Russophile: Biased or trying to be fair? That is the question. Were the Soviets entitled to call the timeout? Is it their fault that the buzzer wasn't working? Sh
31 Dvk: No, the evidence IS there regarding the East Germans. There is written documentation, and the video footage of the extremely virilzed athletes is furt
32 Alpha 1: It's a well documented fact that the officials in the 72 basketball final made an egregious error at the end of the game, putting time back on the clo
33 Tom in NO: I don't always agree with Alpha 1, but his post just above (reply 40) should be carved in stone. I, for one, would salute it once a day, and twice on
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