[OT] Slow and steady wins Olympic Gold!

[Bran Blackbyrd]

the men's short track speed skating event was one of the larger barrels of crap I've seen in a long time.

I'm totally with you on this.

I hate to rain on anyone's parade, but I don't think anyone should be congratulated for winning on a fluke like that. The only reason he was in the finals was because he was so far back that he missed the crash, and that's the only reason he won the gold. If he had planned it that way all along, ok, he wins my strategy award for sheer cunning and the ability to predict the crashes, but I don't think so.

If it weren't for the klutzes on the Korean team it would have almost certainly have been the US in first, and if not, then China. Half the people on this board could have medalled under those circumstances.
I have no problem with the Australian team in general, it would have put my nose out of joint to see an American win that way too, just so you know.

 

[Binagran]

Ahh, but if you saw his interview afterwood that's exactly what he did do.


Considering he made it to the qualifying finals because the winner in that heat was disqualified. AND he made it into the finals because of an almost identical crash it seems like a good tactic to me.

And even his first thought on crossing the finish line was that they would have to do the race again.

I'm not saying that it isn't galling to see it happen that way, but what are they supposed to do. Re-do every event where something untoward happens. What about athletes who injure themselves while trying to qualify. Should the games stop just so that they can participate.

And besides, isn't the saying "Slow and steady wins the race"

Binagran

 

[SableWyvern]

Ahh, but if you saw his interview afterwood that's exactly what he did do.


Considering he made it to the qualifying finals because the winner in that heat was disqualified. AND he made it into the finals because of an almost identical crash it seems like a good tactic to me.
Binagran

Exactly. He said his plan was to hope for two to crash so that he could sneak through for a bronze.

And, from what I've been able to tell based on post-race reports, all the people who actually know how the whole speed-skate rules works has said that there wasn't actually any justification for a rerun in this specific case.

Steve admitted that he was far from the best man in the race, but that he considered his gold a fair reward for the years of effort he has put into the sport. Apparently last Games he was favoured for a medal, but was not advanced from the first round - even though the guy that beat him was disqualified. What goes around, comes around.

 

[Bran Blackbyrd]

So he won the gold because he was shooting for bronze, because he was HOPING some of the others would crash, because he figured he didn't have a chance otherwise? Oh well then let me put on my party hat and celebrate his victory, it was clearly indicitive of the Olympic spirit.
I'm making an official request to have the motto changed to Slower, Less Confident, Luckier.

 

[SableWyvern]

So he won the gold because he was shooting for bronze, because he was HOPING some of the others would crash, because he figured he didn't have a chance otherwise? Oh well then let me put on my party hat and celebrate his victory, it was clearly indicitive of the Olympic spirit.
I'm making an official request to have the motto changed to Slower, Less Confident, Luckier.

It has been pointed out by several legitimate commentators on the sport that speed skating is an unpredictable. You never know what's going to happen. IOW, it is a sport with a large luck element.

Perhaps some people would therefore have a problem with it being included as an Olympic sport, or considered a legitmate sport at all. Regardless, it is there, and that is its nature.

I haven't seen any of the competitors raising any problem with the result. In fact, the general thinking seems to be that, while there is a lot of hard work, ultimately it's all in fun. That seems to me to be in line with the Olympic spirit.

 

[med stud]

So he won the gold because he was shooting for bronze, because he was HOPING some of the others would crash, because he figured he didn't have a chance otherwise? Oh well then let me put on my party hat and celebrate his victory, it was clearly indicitive of the Olympic spirit.
I'm making an official request to have the motto changed to Slower, Less Confident, Luckier.

The olympic spirit is dead. It is about prestige and chemicals by now. This was fun and unexpected, and SOMEONE got happy about it, someone who has really fought for it. Sure, it wasnt fair, but "fair" is something that ceases to exist in kindergarten anyway...

 

[Teflon Billy]

....Sure, it wasnt fair, but "fair" is something that ceases to exist in kindergarten anyway...

It was fair though. In Short Track speed skating crashes aren't an unexpected thing. They are an element of the sport. This guy took elements of the sport into account, made use of his extensive eperience, and counte on a little luck...

It paid off in Gold.

Congrats again Bradbury

 

[Villano]

My 2 cents:

To those people who think that the Australian's win was due to an actual strategy of hanging back and letting the others crash, are you delusional? That's praying for divine intervention, not strategy!

What annoys me about this race isn't the fact that the guy in last place won because there was a crash. Crashes happen. What bothers me is that it wasn't a case of the Korean going down and colliding with everyone else, causing them to crash, but that the Korean actively dragged down those around him.

At first, I wasn't even going to blame the Korean for his actions. I mean, the guy's like 15 years old. I figured that he just reflexively grabbed onto something (unfortunately they happened to be other skaters) to stop his fall. Then I thought about the Chinese skater who was disqualified for pushing another skater's leg (I don't remember if that incident caused a crash or not). Whether his intentions were to trip or merely slow the other skater, the Chinese guy was cheating.

I now wonder if, once he knew he was going down, the Korean kid had the idea of tripping the others in the hopes that he could slow them down enough so that he could get across the finish.

Some people might think that I'm overreacting and being parnoid. You may be right. After all, there's no history of cheating in the Olympics *cough* steroids *cough* French ice skating judges *cough* Russian basketball team getting an extra free throw *cough*, is there?

In all seriousness, watch the footage of this kid with his arms wrapped around Ohno's legs. They sould have eliminated the Korean and rerun the race.

 

[drothgery]

My 2 cents:

...

In all seriousness, watch the footage of this kid with his arms wrapped around Ohno's legs. They sould have eliminated the Korean and rerun the race.

I'm not sure that would've been any more 'fair'; I know Ohno had a cut that required stiches from the fall (it looks like he'll be okay for his next race on Wendesday, but he didn't practice yesterday), and the other skaters may well have had injuries as well. So the Australian -- the only one who didn't get caught up in the crash -- might well have won anyway if the race was rerun.

 

[Villano]

I'm not sure that would've been any more 'fair'; I know Ohno had a cut that required stiches from the fall (it looks like he'll be okay for his next race on Wendesday, but he didn't practice yesterday), and the other skaters may well have had injuries as well. So the Australian -- the only one who didn't get caught up in the crash -- might well have won anyway if the race was rerun.

You're right. I totally forgot about that. IIRC, Ohno had to be taken out in a wheelchair or stretcher.

Oh well, they should at least let the other skaters give that geeky Korean kid wedges and indian burns, and then held him down while Ohno gave him a swirly!