Spoiler: Gymnastics - anyone an expert?

[muriel_volestrangler]

The Japanese men's team had an unexpectedly bad performance in their very last event - on the pommel horse - which moved them from 2nd to 4th, and the British team to a silver medal (just a bronze was way about their expectations). The celebrations started - and then (after I'd switched off), the Japanese appealed. And it seems the judges - the same judges, as far as I can tell - conferred for a few minutes, and increased their score enough to put them back into second - so Britain got bronze, and Ukraine missed out on a medal.

Is this normal to be able to appeal the scores you are given? I can't think of it happening in other sports (this is not like a slow-motion replay of a foul or similar in some sports). Would there have been appeals happening all the time throughout the competition, without us being told?

[joeybee12]

1. Yes, you can appeal, you have a certain amount of time to do so...essentially immediately

An infamous appeal was a few days after the men's all-around last Olympics, the South Korean didn't get scored properly, so his score should have been higher...the point is to appeal right away...the American won the all-around. SK's argument was that if they had scored him properly he would have won...they don't allow late appeals because if they had appealed right away, the American would have known what he had to beat and adjusted his routine accordingly...the way events are scored now means lots of adjustments right up until they start the event.

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Thanks

They did appeal relatively promptly (while everyone was still in the arena), and since it was the last performance in the entire contest, it couldn't have been said to have affected anyone's tactics. So I guess it's not that unusual.

[joeybee12]

3. I didn't watch any of it...had the US men done better I

would have watched it tonight...I think this makes 24 years they haven't medaled...technically 28 since they won't have another chance until Rio.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. It was 100 years since the British men's team had (nt)

[fishwax]

5. the US men medaled in 2008 (bronze) and 2004 (silver) -- haven't won gold since '84 though

I had high hopes for this year, but they got off to a rocky start on the floor and then collapsed on the horse.

[joeybee12]

7. You're right...my memory is bad and I read an article that said

they hadn't medaled at all, so I believed them.

You're also right about high hopes...they should have contended for the gold...very disappointing performance.

[SoapBox]

6. I'm watching the US men now...

It's 1021PM Pacific...the US men...ouch!

I'm not sure what to make of it so far...but I may head off to bed in 30 minutes or less. I saw the team
awards earlier today and couldn't believe what I saw.

Tired? Stress? Pressure?

BUT...Louis Smith for GB on the pommel...great job.

p.s. NOW it's 1035PM...watching the US men is too much to take, especially after they showed the China, Japan, Ukraine...oh my.

[rozidays]

8. Spoiler: Gymnastics - anyone an expert?

but any medal is a cause for celebration for the British men, who hadn't won one in a century.
The Americans, hoping for their first Olympic title since 1984 after finishing first in qualifying, finished fifth.

http://www.rosebudmag.com/growers/london-2012-olympics-michael-phelps-hydroponics-gold-medal

[Jimbo S]

9. Paul Hamm's gold eight years ago

The Korean was improperly scored (clerical error, I believe). The mix-up somewhat tarnished the medal was a big hubub over it.

[joeybee12]

10. Yeah, but the point is the South Koreans protested 3 days later...

They mis-scored the South Korean because they gave him a lower difficulty factor...the coach didn't notice it...the South Korean media did three days later...way too late especially since Paul Hamm followed the South Korean...was not tarnished at all...South Korea was just being assholes.

[-KittyKat-]

11. about the 2004 gymnastics controversy...

I just came across the archived 2004 thread where you argued that the scoring was relative and that if the South Korean's score was higher, the judges would've awarded Paul Hamm a higher score to top the South Korean's score because they thought he was better? I don't think that's how it would've worked. Each routine has a starting high score and the judges start deducting points from the starting score for each mistake the gymnast makes. So if the South Korean got say like a 0.3 point deduction, then his score would have been 9.6 if the starting score was 9.9. If the starting score was 10.0, then he would've gotten a 9.7. The error in difficulty factor cost him 0.1 points. If the judges thought that Hamm's routine was better, they couldn't give him a higher score just to beat the Korean's score. It has to be based on deductions.

Of course it could be true that had Hamm known the Korean's higher score, he would have included more difficulty in his routine to have a higher starting score.

[joeybee12]

12. Your last sentence is what I meant...

Had the appeal been done immediately, and the score changed, Hamm would have known what routine and what to throw in to attempt to beat it...