Olympics: Gymnastics Scoring

Let me first say that I fully understand that scoring in Olympic sports like gymnastics, diving, and figure skating is completely subjective. However, with that said...the scoring system that the FIG has set up for gymnastics is not working.

I like the idea of having a start value/difficulty value in addition to a score for the execution of the routines. Diving has a system similar to this one, and it seems to work fairly well from what I've seen. But in the world of gymnastics at the Beijing Olympic Games, something isn't working.

Why did they institute allowing judges to not only view instant replays of the routines, but to view them in slow motion? And do they really think this is going to solve any of the problems they have in scoring? Granted, I am not a gymnast, nor have I ever been. But why is it necessary for these judges to scrutinize every tiny detail of the routine after it is over, in order to determine how many tenths of a point they are going to deduct from the execution score? Why should they have phones at their station to call the head judge and discuss these deductions? None of this makes sense to me, and frankly it is creating needless delays and what seem to me to be unjust deductions.

And in addition to that, I've got another beef with the scoring of gymnastics at these Olympic games. It may sound like sour grapes, but it is something that just doesn't make sense to me. I get the feeling that too many of these judges are scoring with a bias as opposed to attempting to score fairly.

Again, I am not a gymnast...just a fan. But I am a fan that has been watching gymnastics my entire life. I know what a perfectly vertical handstand on the high bar or parallel bars looks like. I know how to spot a "balance check" on the balance beam. I can see with my own two eyes when someone FALLS OFF of their apparatus. And I can tell when a gymnast has delivered a virtually flawless performance, possibly with a small step or hop on the landing.

So judges, please explain to me, how does a routine on the balance beam with a high start value that is virtually free of visible errors wind up with a score that is virtually the same as a routine on the balance beam with a lower start value and multiple visible errors? How does that happen? Especially when you consider that it happens during the same event, with the same judges, just minutes away from each other.

Or can you explain how you give scores to a gymnast whose only real errors of the entire night are small steps on his landings instead of sticking them like he did a few nights previously wound up in the middle of the pack, with so many other gymnasts who had multiple major errors (such as falling off their apparatus) finished ahead of them? How do things like this happen?

I know I really shouldn't be complaining about this, since the U.S. men's team finished with a bronze medal, the women's team finished with the silver medal, and two of the women's gymnasts won the gold and silver in the All-Around. But frankly, something stinks here. If I was seeing the same kinds of errors from the American gymnasts that I am seeing from these other gymnasts, and then seeing the scores that they are receiving, it would be understandable. But those errors are just not there.

How can some of these deductions be justified? How is it possible to have more deductions taken from a virtually flawless routine than from one that is riddled with balance checks and connected elements that do not connect?

The FIG needs to seriously do some major work on their scoring system. The way it is now, the judges can seemingly arbitrarily take deductions at will, without justifying their scores. This needs to be fixed, and the sooner it happens, the better.

Olympics: Men's 100 Meter Butterfly

Michael Phelps is seriously blowing me away. Heck, he's blowing all of America away. No, more than that...he's blowing the world away. He rocks.

In what is the closest race he has won of the Beijing Olympic Games, Michael won his 7th gold medal in 2008, his 13th gold medal overall, and his 15th overall Olympic medal. Wow. With 7 in one Olympiad, he tied Mark Spitz for the most ever won in a single Olympiad, and he is still expected to win another one tonight in the 4 x 100 Medly Relay. He is just unreal.

This race he won by only .01 second. Seriously...one of the closest races I've ever seen in swimming. And everyone thought he had lost it by taking that last half stroke, but in actuality, that is what made sure that he won. He thought he had lost it. His Mom thought he had lost it. His coach thought he had lost it. The delegation from the silver medal winner's country thought he had lost it. Everyone thought he was going to take the silver, and his hopes to beat Mark Spitz's record instead of simply tying it would be dashed. But instead, he won it in one of the most exciting races you'll ever see.

And frankly, who cares that he didn't break the world record in this race? I don't think that is what anyone is going to remember after this is all said and done.

When I find a decent video of it, I'll post it here.

Olympics: Men's 4 X 100 Freestyle Relay

So I mentioned in a previous post that I am an Olympics junkie, or at least something to that effect. So far in the Beijing Olympics, I haven't had as much time to watch as I would have liked, but I've been recording it all so I can try to catch up on my break. I was watching last night, though...so I saw this.



All I can say after that performance by the U.S. men's team is WOW. Yeah, it doesn't hurt that I've been rooting for Michael Phelps since the Athens games, when he tried to win 7 gold medals in one Olympic Games. He didn't get it in 2004, but he did get 6 golds which is nothing to sneeze about. The first two races he has had in the Beijing Games have been two he wasn't supposed to be able to get gold in, or at least the ones that should give him the biggest problem out of all of his races...but he has come away from both of them with the gold. I can't wait to see what else he has in store for this country.

I don't know what else I'll be blogging about for this Olympiad...we'll have to wait and see. But so far, I am enjoying the games. I think the Chinese crowd have been very appreciative of all of the athletes from what I've seen. And as expected, there has already been a lot of excitement. I'm sure much more is yet to come!