[OT] Olympics: Restitution, sort of

[Mal Malenkirk]

The story is breaking right now:

ISU is being vague but say they have discovered that the french judge suffered pressure to vote in favor of the russians. They reccomended that IOC award two gold medal, one for the russian pair and another one for the canadians. IOC accepted.

And everyone is being purposefuly vague when answering the journalists on the topic of the investigation that lead to that decision.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/02/15/oly.skate.row/index.html

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

What a pair of cry babies. They lost on a ty call. It happens. I watched a US boxer have the same thing happen to him and it wasn't near as huge an issue.

 

[Ashtal]

Here's the Canadian newstory!

http://cbc.ca/stories/2002/02/15/gold_medals020215

YEEEHAW!


Ashtal

 

[Arcane Runes Press]

I assume you mean the Canadian skaters were being cry babies.

They weren't. They have been relatively quiet on the whole issue. Other people have been doing most of the complaining.

It happens? So what. It SHOULDN'T happen. Doesn't matter if the same thing happened to a US boxer and nothing was done. It shouldn't have happened. Maybe if something is done now it won't happen as often in the future.

 

[Mal Malenkirk]

I got an odd feeling from the press conference.

They were vague on the result of the investigation. They were putting the blame on the french judge without saying who put the pressure on her.

A journalist asked if it was the french skating federation but the ISU guy skated around the issue.

It's as if they are giving the gold medal to the canadian pair after a very short investigation and are crossing their finger that it will be enough to kill the controversy without having to open an ugly can of worm.

It looks like a golden ostrich policy.

 

[Tsyr]

People get robbed too. Does that mean if I come home and find my computer, stereo, TV, DVD collection, and my cats water bowl missing, I shouldn't call the cops because I'd be a "crybabie"?

 

[Holy Bovine]

What a pair of cry babies. They lost on a ty call. It happens. I watched a US boxer have the same thing happen to him and it wasn't near as huge an issue.

See that's just it - it wasn't a crappy call - it was a corrupt and bloated judging system that supports graft and colusion that screwed the Canadians out of the gold.

If it happened in boxing there SHOULD have been a big deal made out of it because it should never happen. Unfortunately we have to have humans judge these events and so things are always going to be open to corruption.

It doesn't matter now wether the Canadians get a gold medal or not because the damage has already been done - changing it now won't 'make it all better'. It sucks for everyone involved, Canadians, Russians, IOC and ISU. I only hope real change can be made in the judging system somehow but I don't really expect it.

This looks so much like the IOC just doing what it thinks the public wants so everyone will shut up about it and they won't have to make any changes to the corrupt system them obviously want in place.

And just for the record the Canadian skaters were not the ones pushing for this. The media, Canadian Skating Association and the general public's outrage pushed the IOC and ISU to come to some kind of quick resolution.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Don't forget this is a NEW & IMPROVED Olympics, trying to come back from a corrupt system. I think they are doing the right and fair thing. I just hope that this issue changes things in the judgeing.

 

[Psion]

See that's just it - it wasn't a crappy call - it was a corrupt and bloated judging system that supports graft and colusion that screwed the Canadians out of the gold.

If it happened in boxing there SHOULD have been a big deal made out of it because it should never happen.

Exactly. Well spoken.

One wonders if Flexor would be so cavalier in dismissing corruption in more important matters like jury tampering.