2012 London Olympic Games - Day Five- General Thread

[alij]

Good!



It's a different thing to conserve a little energy in the qualifications and to basically stand there and pretend you can't even play badminton.

Totally agree I had read about it and thought it was bad but have now seen some of the match and they way they were playing was ridiculous, there were times when it looked as though they had never played the sport before in their life!

[allezfred]

I hope this is really the end of the stories.

This is the Olympics. Of course, it isn't.

[altai_rose]

Wow, just reporting this on BBC now
'To protect the integrity of the competition'

Well, they had to save face...

[mazzy]

It's a different thing to conserve a little energy in the qualifications and to basically stand there and pretend you can't even play badminton.

If the organizers come up with rules that encourage losing they should not be surprised. Those repechage races should be revised as well.

[Lorac]

Different rules for different sports? If rowers can decide its tactically smart to give up a race shouldn't others be allowed to do the same?

Good question - I didn't see the race where the Canadians came last - was it a shock? Where are they ranked in the 8's racing world? Could they have just had a bad race?

[morqet]

And now the Indonesians are appealing against the decision... the next round is supposed to be starting in 2 hours and no one know who will be in!

[allezfred]

Irish canoe slalom guy who was FORTH in Beijing goes out in the semis and sailor who is leading was only 8th in her first race today.

[mrinalini]

As someone who's only recently discovered badminton and find it fascinating to watch, I have to agree with this decision. What I saw last night was the most appalling thing I've seen at this Olympics thus far - that athletes would so brazenly dare to conduct themselves in breach of Olympic ethics is just totally unacceptable.

What's even more shocking is that the teams that were disqualified were all top contenders for Olympic gold, so just like that these countries have thrown away medals so carelessly.

[Skittl1321]

Good. I hope the disqualification stands. It is one thing to conserve your efforts. This didn't sound like what they were doing.

(Reminds me of the South Park Little League episode where all the kids want to lose so they can have summer vacation, but the other team is throwing the game better than they are- pitching right towards bats so they have to hit, etc.)

[liv]

The Canadians finishing last in their heat was a major disappointment, short of catastrophe!! They were in no way conserving energy. They won gold in 2008 and had set a world record a few months ago. It was a huge shock for them and across the country. They had to totally regroup and talked about how devastated they were but put up a brave face so the public wouldn't know how bad they felt.

[alij]

At least in rowing repechage has always been part of the competition, changing badminton to round robin format was just an odd decision by the Badminton federation in the first place

[Lorac]

Good. I hope the disqualification stands. It is one thing to conserve your efforts. This didn't sound like what they were doing.

Exactly - and in some cases the athlete trying to conserve energy has missed out on the next round - as can be seen by some of the swimming heats!! And those badminton players were so not trying to conserve energy - they were trying to lose - pure and simple!!

[liv]

Glad the badminton disqualification stands too. That's a bold move when they were all contenders. Guess they really want to send a message that it won't be tolerated. For many of us who don't follow international badminton and only see it every 4 years, not trying hard at the Olympics could be seen as very negative so it would be damaging if they hadn't reacted.

[Lorac]

At least in rowing repechage has always been part of the competition, changing badminton to round robin format was just an odd decision by the Badminton federation in the first place

And the round-robin format will be dropped like a hot brick!!!

[alij]

On a lighter note, highlight of the day medals aside is Boris stuck on a zip wire!
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture...n-2012-so-far/

[mazzy]

I'm not blaming the Canadians though I have a hard time believing they went from losing to GBR & NED by almost 10 seconds to being on par with them two days later. The rules in place are stupid because they would have had to beat GER, GBR, NED to advance from the heat and only POL, UKR to advance from the repechage. They probably did what they felt was best for their medal chances and broke no rules in the process.

[milanessa]

And Armstrong wins gold in women's cycling time trials!

[liv]

In rowing it is very possible to make huge changes in time. It isn't like in swimming where you are in an environment that is the same for everyone. I recently read an article where depending on wind direction and gusts etc., every lane can be impacted differently and can affect each team differently in a race. And, sometimes you aren't in sync with your teammates, sometimes you don't stroke as quickly during a race, etc. It's well known in rowing, which is one raeson why there is a repechage. You will see many teams switch positions. It's not excusive to the Canadians and has been going on for forever. And, you are actually rowing one more race by going to the repechage so it's not conserving your energy at all.

[Lorac]

On a lighter note, highlight of the day medals aside is Boris stuck on a zip wire!
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture...n-2012-so-far/

- they should leave him up there

[Lorac]

I'm not blaming the Canadians though I have a hard time believing they went from losing to GBR & NED by almost 10 seconds to being on par with them two days later. The rules in place are stupid because they would have had to beat GER, GBR, NED to advance from the heat and only POL, UKR to advance from the repechage. They probably did what they felt was best for their medal chances and broke no rules in the process.

Also it's a gamble as you have to a) row one more heat and b) the other teams in the repechage could have had a blinder of a race and you're out!!