OF A GOLD MEDAL.
Somewhere between kip and dismount, scores worth gold were awarded to this 18 year old gymnast.
However, between input and output in the lenovo computer system (I knew it was not HP!) her golden performance turned silver.
The silver medal is a wonderful accomplishment!
But for some reason this time, it seemed to not be enough.
The scoring system can never be perfect since it is subjective and the judges are not without flaws.
I understand the need for rules. I realize that the Olympic committee has tried to come up with a system that would be fair.
So in all fairness, let's talk about rules.
If an American gymnast competes in the Olympics on bars and happens to tie with a Chinese gymnast who is clearly underage (oh, wait - - she has a passport that says she is 16 - - and I don't know with certainty that she is younger than 16, although judging by her teeth...however flawed I may be in my judging...) and they receive the same score, please be sure to give the young(er) one the gold medal because she is more deserving (says the lenovo).
Would it have truly been a mockery of the games to give both of these girls gold medals?
Honestly, how often would a tie such as this happen? And if 2 little girls tied every four years for a gold medal, how bad could that be?
Well said Mar!
Posted by: Jonathan | August 20, 2008 at 09:28 AM
Oh my goodness...I was so upset. I even cried for Natsia. She was trying so hard to put up a brave face in front of the world...Now that's a classy winner. I think the whole think is so awful. To have judges that don't know the sport well and then the whole age thing with those "young, little" Chinese girls. I watched both performances and feel that Natsia was definitely more deserving. The little Chinese girl made mistakes that even my un-trained eye caught. And like you said, what's wrong with awarding two amazingly athletic girls with Gold? This will be something that will be talked about for quite some time.
Posted by: Kim | August 20, 2008 at 10:17 AM
I agree with you Marilyn. However, I was really happy when Shawn finally got a gold medal. Yea for Olympics!!!
Posted by: Joan Lloyd | August 26, 2008 at 07:51 PM