All About London Olympics and Paralympics 2012
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How come no one questioned Phelps when he won 8 MEDALS har? :mad:
Worse, this time he hasn't even smelled a single gold.
Goodness, and to bring out China with a history of doping - tell me US has NONE?! :mad:[/quote]Totally agree with Concern2, they must be seeing gree! :stompfeet: -
concern2:
Very unfair for Shin, why not they delay the match till they fix the machine?Fencing controversy forces Korean to sit on piste for ages, eventually costs her medal
(source: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/olympics/blogs/fencing-controversy-forces-korean-to-sit-on-piste-for-ages/article_56269c8c-4cca-570d-bc93-4ee002337ae8.html)
The Olympic fencing tournament was thrown into an incredibly emotional, dramatic and elongated controversy when a semifinal bout of the women's individual epee competition was won on a final touch with 1 second remaining and the losing fencer launched an appeal of the decision which eventually cost her a place on the podium.
Yet it was the appeal of the decision itself which led to incredibly acrimony and one of the lengthiest delays in recent Olympic memory. Here's how everything unfolded:
With time running out in one of the two semifinal matches for the women's individual epee competition, South Korea's Shin A Lam led Germany's Germany's Britta Heidermann by a single point. Officially, Heidermann had just one second to launch an attack and score a touch, which would advance her on to the gold medal match to face the Ukraine's Yana Shemyakina, a lack of time which all but ensured that Shin would advance.
Instead, the timing mechanism on the piste became stuck, giving Heidermann extra time to complete her attack and win the bout, which earned her the spot in the gold medal bout. Officials, unsure what to do without a true, official protocol to follow, eventually decided to award the victory to Heidermann.
As one might expect, Shin and her coaches were enraged with the decision, and launched an immediate appeal. Yet the appeal itself proved to be incredibly lengthy and also contained a unique bylaw that required Shin to remain on the piste throughout its duration. Unable to leave the playing surface, Shin bawled uncontrollably for the first 10-15 minutes, often shading her head in a towel while occasionally looking out to the crowd before rubbing her eyes again.
At long last, after more than 30 minutes of a delay that included the Korean federation having to expedite a payment for the use in the official appeal, Shin's attempt to overturn the result failed. That brought a crushing end to a ridiculously long period marked by piquant discussion between Olympic and Korean officials and occasional announcements trying to explain what was going on to the spectators in the crowd.
Clearly, Shin should have had a chance for the gold medal; if the timing mechanism didn't get stuck, the clock would have run out and she would have advanced. Yet denying Heidermann a shot without some kind of a playoff-style bout might have been equally cruel.
Either way, the fencing tournament somehow ended up with an unfortunate and completely unforeseen loser which will lead to plenty of gripes and arguments going forward from multiple national federations, to be sure.
Just to rub salt in the wound, Shin was forced to come back out and fence for the bronze medal almost immediately. In that bout, after jumping out to an early lead, the Korean fell to China's Sun Yujie, who claimed the bronze by a score of 15-11.
There was little consolation for that result for Shin, particularly after she quite rightfully should have been fencing for a gold medal, a position which would have guaranteed her at least a silver. Still, throughout her bout — just as during the delay — the Korean was applauded and cheered by fans, and she earned a rapturous applause as she went and was consoled by her coach after the bronze medal defeat.
Somehow, that might not go far enough to making the Korean federation feel better about being royally worked over en route to missing out on a medal. -
On chinese swimmer Ye, can’t imagine the response from US and Australia if she will to break another world record in 200m individual medley tonight. Looks like no swimmer can come close to her base on her current form.
On Michael Phelps, this is a golden opportunity for him to stamp his might in the 200m butterfly. He will need to step up on his current form to win. I hope that he will live up to expectations though things are not looking good for him base on his current form. -
Edureach:
Yes! Certain interesting to see the results.On chinese swimmer Ye, can't imagine the response from US and Australia if she will to break another world record in 200m individual medley tonight. Looks like no swimmer can come close to her base on her current form.
Edureach:
Watched the semi-finals just now, Phelps at No. 4 position, Japan No. 1:On Michael Phelps, this is a golden opportunity for him to stamp his might in the 200m butterfly. He will need to step up on his current form to win. I hope that he will live up to expectations though things are not looking good for him base on his current form.
Takeshi Matsuda impresses in Men’s 200m butterfly semi-finals – 2012 London Olympic Games
Japanese veteran, Takeshi Matsuda impressed his supporters by dominating the semi-finals of Men’s 200m butterfly on day three of the swimming events at the 2012 London Olympic Games in London Aquatic Centre on Monday, July 30.
The 28-year-old Matsuda, who won a bronze medal in the same discipline at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, remained dominant over his challengers throughout the distant butterfly discipline and earned the fastest qualification spot of the race.
With his relentless efforts, Matsuda managed to outperform the defending champion of the event, Michael Phelps of USA and hit the finishing blockade for first position with an effort of 1 minute and 54.25 seconds.
His gruelling effort was trailed by Chad Le Clos of South Africa, who stayed 0.09 seconds slower from him over the finishing end and earned second finest spot into the playoff by producing a time of 1 minute and 54.34 seconds.
The South African swimmer was followed by Yin Chen of China, who proved his mettle for third fastest qualifying position by clocking an effort of 1 minute and 54.43 seconds.
Following that, the crowd witnessed exhausting efforts of Phelps, who remained only 0.10 seconds slower form his foregoing finisher and hit the finishing end with a fourth fastest timing of 1 minute and 54.53 seconds.
Fifth position of the race was secured by Tyler Clary of USA, who stayed nearly half body length apart and sprinted his way towards the finishing wall with the timing of 1 minute and 54.93 seconds.
Clary remained just 0.02 seconds lucky from Dinko Jukic of Austria, who finished his swim in sixth best place by submitting a time of 1 minute and 54.95 seconds.
Subsequently, Jukic was chased by Pawel Korzeniowski of Poland, who secured seventh best position of the event with the timing of 1 minute and 55.04 seconds.
Last qualification spot of the event was secured by Velimir Stjepanovic of Serbia, who stayed only 0.09 seconds slower and posted a time of 1 minute and 55.13 seconds.
Matsuda was overjoyed with his accomplishment in the semi-finals and articulated his desire of achieving the same in playoff.
(source: http://blogs.bettor.com/Takeshi-Matsuda-impresses-in-Mens-200m-butterfly-semi-finals-2012-London-Olympic-Games-a176058)
To summarize, here are the timings for the semi-finals Men Butterfly:
Japan - 1:54.25 (MATSUDA Takeshi)
South Africa - 1:54.34 ( le CLOS Chad)
China - 1:54.43 (CHEN Yin)
US - 1:54.53 (PHELPS Michael) -
tuition_czar:
Yes, the pressure is often the hardest on defending champions.Rise and fall we all do, since mere mortals we are.
Michael Phelps shouldn't take things too hard, and neither should the press
continue taking shots/making jibes at him. -
Wang Yue Gu lost de… …
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auntieM:
Wang Yue Gu lost de.. ..
Ya... Only win 1 out of 5 sets... :sad: -
She looked tired.
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concern2:
Psychological warfare n insinuations hv oredi started.
Yes! Certain interesting to see the results.Edureach:
On chinese swimmer Ye, can't imagine the response from US and Australia if she will to break another world record in 200m individual medley tonight. Looks like no swimmer can come close to her base on her current form.
How much worse can it get?
When Stephanie Rice, d defending champion, shaved 3.5 sec off her personal best in 2008, did any of these countries cry foul? -
Diving looks kinda fun....
Faces of Olympic divers:
http://sports.yahoo.com/photos/olympics-funny-faces-of-olympic-divers-slideshow/at-t-usa-diving-grand-prix-day-2-photo-1340647891.html
samples:![](\"http://i45.tinypic.com/qyiu10.jpg\")
http://i45.tinypic.com/qyiu10.jpg\">
![](\"http://i48.tinypic.com/21b5gz6.jpg\")
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