A Japanese official gestures toward the judges after Japan's team complained at the men's gymnastics team final in the North Greenwich Arena during the Olympics on Monday night. Japan took the silver medal after a judges' inquiry that dropped host Great Britain from second to third and denied Ukraine a medal. A fall by Kohei Uchimura on the pommel horse initially saw Japan finish fourth, but they appealed against his score and the judges accepted the appeal, giving Japan silver and leaving Ukraine empty-handed. See full story here.
© Japan TodaySuccessful appeal
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12 Comments
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nath
From what I understand this was due to Kohei Uchimura's score on the pommel horse?
harkins
Tough on Ukraine but the correct result. Even here in the UK there were no complaints as the BBC commentators agreed with the decision, despite us dropping a place to bronze. Crazy end for the Japanese team though. It was more like a buckin bronco than a pommel horse. But in fairness the crowd was going nuts as the Brits were performing brilliantly on the floor while the Japanese were trying to concentrate on the horse.
Ah_so
Yes, that is what the article states in the 2nd sentence.
nath
The caption didn't contain that Information when I posted my comment.
timeon
Matthew, I don't know gymnastics, but from my understanding the morning news said the judges evaluated incorrectly the difficulty of Uchimura's routine, and therefore scoring stared from a lower maximum score.
gogogo
Why couldn't the judges get it right the first time?
nath
Japan has lobbying power.
TSRnow
I had the same question in mind. With the jury system in Judo and all, this Olympic is probably a nightmare for the judges.
The interesting thing is that appeals are heard this time rather than ignored like in the previous Olympics.
CrazyJoe
China's performance was superior. Japan's was outstanding.
Yubaru
One problem with the jury system is the manner in which judges are selected. For Judo and I believe gymnastics as well the jury members are selected from regions around the world and are top ranked judges. Those judges then select the judges for the individual events, meaning that they are all senior in world rankings and have the power to over-rule any of the event judges decisions.
Where this comes into play is when decisions are made on whom to select for international events like the Olympics. The jury members could, and I repeat, could, be wrong too, but what manager is going to tell his boss that he's wrong. Particularly in such heated and contested competitions like the Olympics? It also is their livelihood as well.
While it may not be perfect, and the intentions are great as I see it, and for the times that glaring mistakes get corrected it works, it leaves one wondering sometimes just who is judging the event, the guys on the line, or the one's in the box.
YongYang
He FELL off the horse, how on Earth did he get a dismount grade for that? Legs apart, at 70 degress AT best... dear me. Terrible appeal, the Japanese should have accepted the truth! You were 4th!
smithinjapan
I'm really starting to think this whole two-judge system is a disgrace. Can the judges on the ground and keep the ones with the monitors, since they can overturn the judges on the ground anytime anyway.