London Summer Olympics 2012

swan wrote:

i agree. gabby's beam AND bars were definitely a gift. how she scored that high on bars i really don't understand and right now gymnastics fans are pretty pissed at her win. there is no way anyone can convince me that gabby fairly received those high scores. i need to rewatch the floor rotation for me to understand how gabby's floor was only .1 behind vika's amazing floor.

it was less than .1 Gabby received 15.033, Vika got 15.1 Go figure. I'm so pissed right now. Why were judges overscoring Gabby and screwing Vika? What the heck do they have against her?

pearlyriver wrote:

Hi Swan, will Kohei still compete in the floor exercise and parallel bars? I never thought men gymnastics can be so elegant before watching Kohei's performances.

sorry i missed your post! kohei won't be competing in the parallel bars final because the tanaka brothers scored better than he did in qualification. only two athletes per country are allowed in the finals so unfortunately he won't be there. but he will definitely be there in the floor final! also, guo weiyang didn't compete in the all around because he declined his offer (he was on the reserves) after someone else dropped out. i'm not really sure why he didn't compete. however, china really is a country that produces specialists instead of all arounders and after yang wei retired, none of the chinese seemed to be in all arounder contention. yang wei is the exception and he was an outstanding all arounder and rightfully became olympic champion in beijing.

I can understand bars, but I can't understand beam. That being said, though, Vika made more obvious mistakes than Gabby did which is, in the end, what probably did it. The floor scores were completely fair for both. I actually think that Vika was slightly overscored in vault, but that got made up with beam overscoring from Gabby.

john geddert, you are officially my enemy. retweeting stupid michael buckley's tweet that vika was overscored? you lost ALL my respect. first you gripe about how jordyn was "underscored" during qualifications and imply that gabby/aly should not be there. now this? no wonder everyone hates you!

swan wrote:

john geddert, you are officially my enemy. retweeting stupid michael buckley's tweet that vika was overscored? you lost ALL my respect. first you gripe about how jordyn was "underscored" during qualifications and imply that gabby/aly should not be there. now this? no wonder everyone hates you!

Geddert is an idiot. It's his fault that Jordyn peaked at the wrong time.

Alokya wrote:

swan wrote:

john geddert, you are officially my enemy. retweeting stupid michael buckley's tweet that vika was overscored? you lost ALL my respect. first you gripe about how jordyn was "underscored" during qualifications and imply that gabby/aly should not be there. now this? no wonder everyone hates you!

Geddert is an idiot. It's his fault that Jordyn peaked at the wrong time.

It's also his fault that Jordyn didn't get credit for some of her beam connections. Is he trying to get himself out of job? if I were a gymnasts mom, I'd think twice before sending my kid to this concited idiot. What a sore loser.The only one responsible for Jordyn's AA miss is HER COACH. I hope someone in the States is going to realise this.
I hope someone will tweet about Gabby's bars and beam owerscore asap. Oh wait, she's american, I'm surprised no one is screaming that she's been underscored. I wish IOC would ban twitting from olympic athletes and their coaches during the games.

And dear judges, please give Vika and Aliya the scores they deserve in event finals, and if you intend to overscore others be so kind and do the same for these two. Thank you.

Edit: Geddert should learn from Vika and Aliya about class. Nice article about Vika and Aliya with some of their qoutes.

http://www.examiner.com/article/viktoria-komova-i-am-proud-about-what-i-ve-done-today

Last night I watch Vika performing floor exercises and was stunned. Her execution is textbook-perfect and her movement is very artistic, and I didn't think she could pull off such a good performance after seeing Gabby taking the lead. Go Vika.
Off topic but does anyone often watch gymnastics championship events and what channel are they on? I recently fall in love with gymnastics thanks to you guys but I only have ESPN and Star Sports so I'm not sure whether they'll broadcast the important events.

pearlyriver wrote:

Last night I watch Vika performing floor exercises and was stunned. Her execution is textbook-perfect and her movement is very artistic, and I didn't think she could pull off such a good performance after seeing Gabby taking the lead. Go Vika.
Off topic but does anyone often watch gymnastics championship events and what channel are they on? I recently fall in love with gymnastics thanks to you guys but I only have ESPN and Star Sports so I'm not sure whether they'll broadcast the important events.

pearlyriver, broadcasting rights in the us are currently owned by nbc. hopefully this will change, but i doubt it. for europe, it is the bbc. the world championships are held every year except for the olympic year but there are also many minor world cups. nbc broadcasts the american cup as well as national championships and olympic trials.

also, i see that you are from vietnam. a fun fact: a vietnamese gymnast won an unexpected third in the vault finals last year!

Yeah Swan, her bronze medal was all over the news. This olympic she placed 12th in vault, I know she never stands a chance against gymnasts from Russia, USA and China but she didn't have the best preparation for the Olympics. She didn't even have a coach for 4 months prior to the Olympics and thereby couldn't practice to raise the difficulty.

Another controversial judging:

Quote :

"I was shocked by the final scores. He fell down so many times. Why didn't I win? I don't understand." — Japan's Satoshi Shimizu after losing a bantamweight fight to Magomed Abdulhamidov despite knocking down the Azerbaijan fighter five times in the third round. Japan appealed the decision, leading to Shimizu being declared the winner and referee Ishanguly Meretnyyazov being expelled. (BBC Sport)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/19088420

roma wrote:

Another controversial judging:

Quote :

"I was shocked by the final scores. He fell down so many times. Why didn't I win? I don't understand." — Japan's Satoshi Shimizu after losing a bantamweight fight to Magomed Abdulhamidov despite knocking down the Azerbaijan fighter five times in the third round. Japan appealed the decision, leading to Shimizu being declared the winner and referee Ishanguly Meretnyyazov being expelled. (BBC Sport)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/19088420

reminds me of the pacquiao vs. bradley bout!

This year's Olympic is ridden with so many scandals and dramas. But I'm glad that justice is done and the Japanese boxer won the appeal. I still can't believe that the Korean sword fighter didn't get another chance, when it's not her fault. I also feel uneasy seeing the Japanese officers handing $500 to the judges to appeal a case that is so black and white. But the fact that the British audiences always stand for fairness and boo the match-fixing incidences restore my faith in the spirit of the Olympics.

Same here - I feel irritated that some individuals question the money paid for the appeals...-_-
If I'd be a coach right now - with all these scandals - I would make sure to stuff my pockets with notes before every competition...

On a brighter note - Japan is doing great today!
Koji Murofushi qualified for hammer throw with the best score in his group - Plus two other athletes qualified for finals in archery and judo!

pearlyriver wrote:

This year's Olympic is ridden with so many scandals and dramas. But I'm glad that justice is done and the Japanese boxer won the appeal. I still can't believe that the Korean sword fighter didn't get another chance, when it's not her fault. I also feel uneasy seeing the Japanese officers handing $500 to the judges to appeal a case that is so black and white. But the fact that the British audiences always stand for fairness and boo the match-fixing incidences restore my faith in the spirit of the Olympics.

I don't understand that decision either. This is not only unfair but it should also be against the law. After all it was equipment failure, therefor the athlete should have been rewarded a second chance (IMO).

I didn't know you have to pay 500$ for the appeal , i thought it was 100$. 500$ is alot of money. The British weren't very happy with the gymnastics men team final decision, which knocked team GB from 2nd to 3rd place. There were some very nasty comments on the internet toward Japanese athletes, reportedly, some even wished another tsunami on Japan.

zarinaballerina wrote:

pearlyriver wrote:

This year's Olympic is ridden with so many scandals and dramas. But I'm glad that justice is done and the Japanese boxer won the appeal. I still can't believe that the Korean sword fighter didn't get another chance, when it's not her fault. I also feel uneasy seeing the Japanese officers handing $500 to the judges to appeal a case that is so black and white. But the fact that the British audiences always stand for fairness and boo the match-fixing incidences restore my faith in the spirit of the Olympics.

I don't understand that decision either. This is not only unfair but it should also be against the law. After all it was equipment failure, therefor the athlete should have been rewarded a second chance (IMO).

I didn't know you have to pay 500$ for the appeal , i thought it was 100$. 500$ is alot of money. The British weren't very happy with the gymnastics men team final decision, which knocked team GB from 2nd to 3rd place. There were some very nasty comments on the internet toward Japanese athletes, reportedly, some even wished another tsunami on Japan.

on another board i read that you have to submit the money to appeal the score. IF your appeal succeeds, you get your money back. it is like a deposit, it is not a bribe. if your appeal fails then they (gymnastic governing body) keep your money.

if your first appeal fails, and you want to appeal again, it will cost you more for your 'deposit'. if your appeal is rejected a 2nd time, your 3rd appeal will cost even more for your deposit.

it takes the judges time to review and holds up the competition so i think some fee is not completely unreasonable. i do think the announcers should have explained it more clearly so that people watching won't misunderstand and wrongly accuse japan of bribing the judges.


anyway, twitter is perfect for people who want to make nasty remarks anonymously and get them re-tweeted. it's revolting to wish another tsunami on japan, and it's unreasonable to bash any gymnast for crying. i have to say that though i haven't watched gymnastics as much as some of you here, to my uneducated eyes gabby deserved the win (and no, gabby isn't my favorite, aliya mustafina is). komova and mustafina both said gabby deserved to win in the interviews afterwards, and i respect their good sportsmanship.

ETA: i heard from people who were in attendance that there were a few scattered boos but overall the audience did not act ungracious towards the japanese men during TF medal ceremony. i think that's a better reflection of the british sportsmanship than some idiot's twitter. after all, wasn't there a twitter remark insulting even GB's gold medalist in swimming, calling her a 'whale'?

i feel like gabby's scores on uneven bars and beam are impossible to defend and unexplainable. there's just no way all those late handstands can warrant a better executaion score than aliya's bars. more wobbles and a missed switchring (how was that even credited?) should not equal a better beam score than vika (and especially not the almost perfect routines of sui lu and catalina ponor). i'm by no means an expert, but come on judges! i know you judges lost credibility a long time ago with paul hamm's controversial victory but must we have another tainted medal? i didn't watch the nbc broadcast since i can't handle the horrible nbc commentary trying to pretend that they're commenting live but i heard that when gabby's bars score showed up, tim daggett didn't even say anything... and him not saying anything actually says a lot.

i don't even look at twitter reactions for these olympics because i know they're going to be brutal. all these tweets about the olympics are just uncivilized. i don't agree with gabby winning but... people tearing her down about her HAIR of all things?

onto a happy note. maria sharapova in the finals for tomorrow! being in the finals in your first olympics isn't so shabby!

I've been away for so long, I've missed everyone!

These Olympics are getting annoying in terms of controversies. I didn't watch the AA women's final, so I thought Gabby won by more of a margin. I didn't realize that Komova only needed to score above 15.3 or whatever to win the gold- after seeing Komova's floor routine, I can see why it's so much politics. The judges could have totally given her more than 15.3, there wasn't that much to pick on, but it was close between the 2 girls at the end, and they chose the winner that they wanted to win...

And did you guys see this?? Total double standards:
http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/eh-game/british-cycling-gold-medallist-admits-crashing-purpose-142149173.html

I feel bad for the girls from badminton who got disqualified, the IOC's stupid reason that crashing deliberately is okay b/c of "audience entertainment" which apparently trumps ethics...


I'm lucky that I still have CTV, so I try to avoid NBC as much as possible to prevent myself from being angry
And this rant from a viewer about NBC made my day

http://nimbusthedragon.xanga.com/766532150/item/

swan wrote:

i feel like gabby's scores on uneven bars and beam are impossible to defend and unexplainable. there's just no way all those late handstands can warrant a better executaion score than aliya's bars. more wobbles and a missed switchring (how was that even credited?) should not equal a better beam score than vika (and especially not the almost perfect routines of sui lu and catalina ponor). i'm by no means an expert, but come on judges! i know you judges lost credibility a long time ago with paul hamm's controversial victory but must we have another tainted medal? i didn't watch the nbc broadcast since i can't handle the horrible nbc commentary trying to pretend that they're commenting live but i heard that when gabby's bars score showed up, tim daggett didn't even say anything... and him not saying anything actually says a lot.

i don't even look at twitter reactions for these olympics because i know they're going to be brutal. all these tweets about the olympics are just uncivilized. i don't agree with gabby winning but... people tearing her down about her HAIR of all things?

onto a happy note. maria sharapova in the finals for tomorrow! being in the finals in your first olympics isn't so shabby!

I just hope they will be more fair in the event finals. I also don't understand Vika's score on the floor. 15.1 for that perfection is baffling.
I don't agree with Gabby's win either, but to ridicule her for her looks is wrong. If people want to tear her down about her gymnastics (i don't like her style, lack of lines, toe point... ) than do so, but don't ridicule the person.

i'm happy for Sharapova. And Federer also made it in the finals, although I nearly died of anxiety in the process. He sure doesn't make it easy for us, fans.

@skfan, I agree that a fee should pe paid when making an appeal, I was just surprised at the sum (500$). Like I said,I always thought it's 100$. And I agree, the organizers should explain that when making an appeal, one MUST pay the fee. I hated how people thought the Japanese were bribing the judges.

Vika's Floor Routine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeJJzMjMCEc
That was amazing! She should have gotten a higher score.

roma wrote:

Vika's Floor Routine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeJJzMjMCEc
That was amazing! She should have gotten a higher score.

'

does anyone have a video clip with the other competitor who won

i'm fine with vika's 15.1... but gabby's 15.033 with less controlled landings than vika (and hideous choreography)? she almost stepped out of bounds... it's not fair that controlled landings and uncontrolled landings are scored the same as long as they are not out of bounds!

ballertinamao, this is poor quality but this is all i can find on gabby's routine. give it some time and a much better quality video will surface on youtube!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYe7E-ZoDW8

sharapova lost big time. she looked so nervous. i've been bummed this entire olympics. not a single competitor who i wanted to win has won.

Gymnastics Update:

It seems Kohei Uchimura only won silver in FX. Zuo Kai (CHN) got gold and ABLYAZIN Denis (RUS) got the bronze. Uchimura and Ablyazin actually got the same score but Uchimura got the highest execution score. Seems Ablyazin got the highest difficulty score followed by Zuo.

And it's an upset in the women's Vault final. Izbasa won gold, Maroney silver and Paseka bronze. I read tweets that Maroney fell on a vault and in the official scores she got a .3 penalty on the first vault and the second execution score is only in the 8+ range. Did she fell on her Amanar? I wonder what she did for the second vault...

Andy Murray finally beat Roger Federer to claim the singles gold at Wimbledon for GBR! Congrats!!!

i missed the event finals today, but mckayla fell on the mustafina vault, not the amanar vault. there's debate that mckayla nor maria paseka shouldn't had even medaled and that janine berger should've been in the medal stands. since i haven't watched any of the finals, i'll reserve my judgement for later.

i wanted roger to win.

Thanks for the info, swan! Haven't watched the event so I just guessed on the first vault since it carried a 6.5 difficulty value and it showed a 0.3 deduction. Wonder what the deduction is for?

I think we'd expect Roger Federer to win but he lost all sets in the finals instead...

swan wrote:

i missed the event finals today, but mckayla fell on the mustafina vault, not the amanar vault. there's debate that mckayla nor maria paseka shouldn't had even medaled and that janine berger should've been in the medal stands. since i haven't watched any of the finals, i'll reserve my judgement for later.

i wanted roger to win.

Well, in all honesty Berger was a bit sloppy as well, but I agree, Maroney winning the silver after "butt planting" Mustafina is unfair. Paseka had the same problem with Amanar as Vika (stepping off the vaulting matress). And Maroney refused to hug Paseka after the results and her face on the podium... If any Russian gymnast pulled this off, they would have been crusified by the gymnastics community, IMO.

I'm so happy for Izbasa!!! She had a chance at gold after Maroney's fall and she took it! And her reaction was priceless.

at Roger for losing, but he just wasn't himself at these Games. I'm thinking, he gave his all at Wimbledon and just didn't have much strength and will power left for this.