[OT, Olympics] Russia pulling out?

[Sodalis]

And what about N Korea getting Disqualified in the speed skate? N Korea and Ohno were 1,2 (respectively) and when ohno tried to pass him on the inside, NK cut him off (against rules) and was DQed. Ohno was awarded the gold,a nd NK is now threatening to sue the olympics and withdraw...

It seems like the Olympics has gone beyond exhibition of talents and a global competition to a corporate competition where the winner can sell themselves in the global market, getting both fame and economic wealth.

This is by far the worst olympics I have ever seen, just based on the fact that decisions are being reviewed under a microscope, theer are people accused of bribery, and then there is the multiple reversed decisions that puts a terrible spin on what was once just a friendly competition of talent and showmanship.

If this continues, I may have to just stop watching the Olympics. It is gettigntoo annoying.

And the medal counts is making this a petty "I got more medals" thing. I really hate the way the announcers say that the US has X number of medals and then downplay all the other nations as though they don't matter...

The olympics is too commercialized, and is drawing attention from what it was originally meant for- a global competition that allows the entire world to show their stuff, and have their moment in the spotlight. With these controversies hogging it all, the smaller events like curling, and X games get little attention... and I think that is a shame

 

[Psion]

Well, I think the US women hockey team putting the Canadian flag on the floor of their dressing room was a little much.

LOL... they must have hexed themselves if they did so. Yuo owned us on that one! I guess they really must have put the fire in the Canadian team!

 

[IceBear]

Yeah, in the post game interviews with the Canadian women they said they saw the flag on the floor just before the game and that really made them mad (to say it politely)

IceBear

 

[Villano]

The Russians are just trying to distract the world from the fact that they got caught cheating with the French during the pairs figure skating. At least the French had the sense to keep their mouths shut and hope everything would pass.

The simple fact is that Russia doesn't matter anymore. After years of being feared and respected, they're irrelevant.

I think we should give them a wake up call and call their bluff. Let's see if they really will pull out. Personally, I doubt they would. Considering they're meaningless in the world of politics, economics, and the military, the Olympics are the only thing they have.

Good-bye and good riddance.

Now, on to the women's figure skating. Hughes won the gold not because she skated the best, but because everyone else made mistakes, pure and simple. I can't see how anyone can dispute the outcome. Kwan fell and the Russian skated a stiff, slightly clumsy performance. I actually think the judges were overly generous on the artistic (or whatever it's called) score.

I do feel bad for Kwan, though. She really should have won the gold in the last Olympics. This time, she had so much pressure on her she choked. I can't blame her. I can't imagine what its been like for her. She had to skate perfectly. She seems like a nice person, so you hate seeing her lose, not because of questionable judging, but a mistake on her part.

Even if she doesn't compete in the next Olympics, she still has a long career ahead of her in all the various figure skating shows that are out there. It seems like there's one on tv every other week.

 

[Maerdwyn]

And what about N Korea getting Disqualified in the speed skate? N Korea and Ohno were 1,2 (respectively) and when ohno tried to pass him on the inside, NK cut him off (against rules) and was DQed. Ohno was awarded the gold,a nd NK is now threatening to sue the olympics and withdraw...

S. Korea, not N. Korea

 

[Maerdwyn]

Russia backs down a bit...

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020222/sp_nm/olympics_russia_dc_31&cid=577

 

[KarinsDad]

Well, I can't blame them for being bitter NOW after another scandal in the olympic skating. I realise that the American (like any other country's) media isn't ever going to critisize the judgement when you win, but Slutskaya had deserved Gold. Not Hughes - even though she is an all american, charming, girl-next-door upset.

I respectfully totally disagree.

First off, I have watched Hughes get second rate scores for a few years now due to the scoring favoritism problems in the skating world.

Secondly, she skated flawlessly in both the short and long programs. She still only got fourth in the short.

Third, she put a triple triple into her long program.

She got fourth place in the short program precisely because she has gotten second rate scores for a long time now.

However, the triple triple in the long combined with her flawless execution made the judges stand up and take notice.

Plus, if either Slutskaya or Kwan had skated well, they would have won the gold. But, they both put in tentative skates and lost.

 

[Shard O'Glase]

Actually if there hadn't been absurd bias the medals would of gone kwan gold, hughes silver, slutskya bronze.

Reasoning: it is clear to virtually everyone that hughes beat the crap out of everyone on the ice in the long program. But to insure slutskya got her silver the russian block gave her vastly inflated scores ranking her as 1st. If she had been merely ranked as 2nd by the russian block which would be fine better than kwan(which is debateable since they both screwed up and didn't do much) but worse than hughes which she clearly was. Then since the new scores for slutskya would of given her a bronze then the combination of the programs scores would of likely put kwan in gold because of hughes and kwans scores in the 1st program, even if that night she didn't deserve it.

Honestly I think the russians are complaning about her not getting the gold to merely to be on the offense so people don't mention their corruption in this event as well.

 

[dagger]

We beat Russia today in Hockey, fyi.

 

[Maerdwyn]

We beat Russia today in Hockey, fyi.

Dangit...

*stalks off, mumbling something about "stupid NBC" and "tape delay"*