You may remember that I am a huge fan of Olympics sports and have been ever since I was a child, so when I’m not blogging or attending to other immediate needs, I’m watching the games. I became aware of an injustice that transcends party lines. Simply put, an athlete who deserves to compete is being excluded.
…And on a day when near-perfection was demanded, reigning world all-around champion Jordyn Wieber was merely better than most. As a result, she missed the cut for the London Olympics all-around final, finishing third behind teammates Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas.
"She has trained her entire life for this day, and to have it turn out anything less than she deserves is going to be devastating," Wieber’s coach, John Geddert, said in a statement issued by the team.
Wieber offered only tears, walking past reporters with her head bowed, still weeping long after the scoreboard showed that Raisman’s bold and well-executed floor routine, the final event in Sunday’s qualifications at North Greenwich Arena, had vaulted her ahead of Wieber and Douglas in the final standings.
Because countries can enter just two gymnasts in the all-around final, the fact that Wieber finished third among U.S. gymnasts (0.233 of a point behind Douglas) and fourth overall, offered no solace.
As a team, the United States ruled the day, finishing with 181.863 points to Russia’s 180.429. Defending Olympic champion China was third (176.637)… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <Seattle Times>
Other than her two teammates, only one other gymnast had a higher qualifying score than Jordyn, so she was fourth overall, but the new rule limiting each nation to two qualifiers in the all around means that twenty one gymnasts with lower scores than hers will get to compete, but she will not.
In my opinion, the rule is unjust. The twenty four qualifiers to compete for the all around event should be the gymnasts with the top scores, regardless of where they come from. For the gymnast with the fourth highest score to be excluded is an injustice of Olympic proportions. The rule should be changed.
11 Responses to “An Injustice of Olympic Proportions”
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I was also watching- did not however understand what had happened until i read this– TY TC
So it seems there are times when mediocrity is rewarded.
I suppose the rule was put in place so that more countries had a shot at the medals, and maybe to cut down the length of competition time. 'Shot at the medals' should be determined purely on skill. Do some countries end up dominating the competition? Yes. For years, the Russians dominated ice dance and pairs skating at the winter Olympics. And what happened? Other countries beefed up their training and broke that hold. Should this not be the case here? Other countries need to beef up their training, not count on preferential rules to get to the podium. The Olympics are about being the best you can be while living up to the Olympic oath. Period. So I guess mediocrity is rewarded. Too bad.
Rules are rules….part of athletic training is sportsmanship……..she is YOUNG, she will carry on~
If they changed the rules mid-match, it'd be one thing, but everybody knew the rules going in.
I'll chide you a bit, Tom, since changing the rules mid-stream is a Republican tactic. Font size on petitions, new rules for voting, and so on.
This is how it works with the sports leagues with playoffs. They set up a bracket. If the best team screws up on the first round, they don't get to continue the play offs. It's just how sports works.
The best (man, woman, team, horse) doesn't always win.
Very Sad indeed…. sigh
Sorry, Tomcat, I have to disagree. The rule applies to all of the teams equally. Do you want to be the one to tell either Gabby Douglas or Aly Raisman "Sorry, we don't think you're good enough to represent us in the all-around, so we want to replace one of you with the person that both of you out-scored."??
That's a slap in the face to one of those two young ladies that I would not, under any circumstances, be willing to deliver, and neither should you.
Agreed, it's a crappy rule and needs to be changed, but it is what it is.
Sorry, but I just can't get overwrought about this (sad as it is), as the Rules/Guidelines were in place long before the competition began.
That said, I do think that an additional qualifying spot or two for the highest scores, regardless of nation, would be eminently fair.
Let me add to what I posted earlier. One could say "But Jordyn Wieber is a better gymnast and should be representing us! Just look at her record, she's the defending world champion, for heaven's sake!"
No argument there, she's one hell of a gymnast and not qualifying for the all-around was a really crappy turn of the cards for her.
However, these things are determined in the here and the now, and at the particular instant in time when the decision had to be made, Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas were both better than she was.
There was a swim race tonight; there was a tie for the Silver(2nd).
The fourth finisher will not get the Bronze, no Bronze was awarded. Must be another Olympic rule. I thought he should have been awarded the Bronze.
Like most have said, as long as the rules are the same for all, and all understood the rules going in, it's fair.
Change the rules; which the Olympic Committee does all the time.
Rules ae rules. We don't always agree with them but they do apply to all countries and their athletes equally.
I'm going to reply to everyone at once here, because I clearly did not succeed in making the point I intended to make.
I fully agree that everyone knew the rules going in, and that it would be worse to change the rules midstream, so there is nothing to be done for Jordyn at this time.
Before this year, the athletes with the top 24 scores competed in the all around. My point is that, because the new rule excluded the fourth best performer from competing and allowed 21 athletes with lesser scores to compete, the new rule is a bad one. Before the next Olympics, the rule should be changed back, so that this does not happen again.